"muscat" news and stories

Want to win a cruise for two? All you have to do is tell a good story (oh--and it has to be true--and you have to be 21 years old). Alice White, a well-known Australian wine brand, just "did her colors," as the press release puts it, and got all new, colorful labels for the line of wines. Now the brand has launched a "Live Life in Color" contest that asks you to tell the story of a colorful adventure you've had (no matter how big or small) and enter to win a Royal Caribbean cruise for two, including airfare. Ten first place winners will receive a 10-piece cookware set and a $100 American Express gift card.

The contest begins tomorrow, January 26, and runs through March 30. Some ideas that might spark your imagination: mastering a new recipe, fundraising for your favorite charity, meeting someone you've long admired, celebrating a milestone in a special way...there's nothing too big or too small to write about. And it's only 200 words or less. I'm practically there on this post already.

Read more about Alice White after the jump.

Chambers Rosewood Vineyards Rutherglen Muscat NV (non-vintage) from Rutherglen, Australia is18.5%abv. and comes in a 375ml. bottle. It has a medium body with an orange/dark amber color. It has a lovely aroma of flowers, oranges, and honey with a complementary taste of dates, honey, spices, and oranges. I could sip on this floral, decadent wine all day long, but at 18.5% abv. I probably wouldn't be able to write after a few hours. I was able to find it locally in NYC for around $17 a bottle which is a great price for this quality of wine. The wine makers say that the wine will keep for months if sealed and I have found that over the past few weeks it has kept very well indeed.

The Chambers Winery has been a family owned and run business since it was started in 1858. The wine making and care of the "old material" (solera style aged wines) have been handed down from father to son through five generations, and for the last 40 years have rested with Bill Chambers.

The solera style is a wine making method used in the production of Spanish sherry where some of the old wines are drawn off for bottling and then the rest are topped up by wines from the next oldest level and so on. Wines in a solera may be decades or hundreds of years old. This is a mildly fortified wine with the fermentation process being halted early with the addition of small amounts of neutral spirits and then the wine is aged in wood in the solera.

The Rutherglen Muscat is the entry level of four Muscat's that Chambers produces. Rutherglen, Classic, Grand, and the incredibly pricey, and as the name says, Rare. The Rare Muscat is indeed so rare that distributors for whole countries may only get 1-2 bottles every few years. So don't count on my doing a review on it anytime soon unless one of you Slashfoodies gives me a bottle for the holidays.

By the way don't get the names Muscat and Muscadelle mixed up due to the similar names. They are different grapes with their own unique flavor profiles. The Muscadelle tends to have molasses and tea flavors and the Muscat has a more floral aroma and honey and caramel flavors.

Wine Enthusiast has an interesting take on combining candy with treats of a somewhat more mature nature. Pairing wine with candy sounds like a great way for the big kids to enjoy themselves on Halloween. Just be sure not to offer a glass to any wee goblins who ring your doorbell next week.

Among the suggested pairings:

• Chocolate: Always goes well with Port, but WE suggests anything in the red wine family, including Shiraz and Banyuls.
• Chocolate with nuts: Try a Sherry or Madeira to go with that Snickers bar.
• Caramel apples: Muscat or Gewürtzraminer are match well with caramel notes, while a Sauternes will highlight more of the apple flavor.
• Candy corn: WE suggests a Chardonnay to pick up on the seasonal treat's buttery, vanilla flavors.

Source

A liquor order made by George Washington in August, 1776, was recently put on display at a whiskey trade show in Chicago. The list, which belongs to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, includes orders for cases of claret, muscat wine and cordials as well as a keg of brandy and a request for "2 cheeses—old—58 lb.," according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The Sun-Times quotes a spokesman at Mount Vernon Estates and Gardens who says that the supply was not likely to be Washington's private stash, but rather for entertaining officers and guests.