Is Moscato Sweet or Dry? (Wine Sweetness Chart)

Moscato tastes exactly like a very good bubble bath: fruity, frothy and fun

It’s the perfect party wine and in our opinion no summer celebration is complete without a sparkling glass of Moscato d’Asti.

It can be hard sometimes to tell whether a sparkling wine is sweet or dry, which is why labelling terms have become so important.

How does this affect our favourite celebratory tipple, Moscato?

Is Moscato a sweet or a dry wine?

Is Moscato a Dry or Sweet Wine?

Moscato is a softly sweet white wine, that’s part of its charm.

Fruity and frivolous, Moscato has a reputation for being a sweet wine.

It’s off-dry to sweet nature can make Moscato a bit of a Marmite wine, people either love it or they hate it.

But luckily for Moscato, enough people love it to make it a globally popular style of wine.

So how does Moscato get its signature sweetness?

What makes a Moscato sweet?

Why Is Moscato Sweet?

Moscato wines are made from Muscat grapes, the clue is in the name.

Moscato wines are sweet because the Muscat grape has a very high sugar content.

The higher a grape’s sugar content the more likely it is that there will be some residual sugar leftover after the yeast has finished fermentation.

So a grape with high sugar levels tends to make a wine with good levels of sweetness, too.

Now Moscato may be known for its sweet taste, but what else?

What are Moscato’s tasting notes?

What Does Moscato Taste Like?

Not only is Moscato made from a variety with high sugar levels, Muscat grapes are also known for their perfumed aromatics, which makes Moscato such a delicious wine to smell and sip.

Typical tasting notes of Moscato include Meyer lemon, peaches and pear blossom.

Think walking past heady honeysuckle at dusk, confected bites of pear drops and drops of mandarin oil.

Moscato is definitely a wine as delicious as it is sweet.

To bring out the finest tastes of Moscato, take a look at our guide about if you should chill moscato.

Moscato Wine Characteristics

With sweet wines it’s important that they have the necessary characteristics required to balance the sweetness and to avoid the wine becoming too cloying.

So what characteristics does a Moscato typically have?

1. Alcohol Levels

Moscato wines tend to be as light as they are sweet, with alcohol levels never crossing over the 10% ABV mark.

2. Sweetness Level 

Moscato wines can vary across regions and makers, but as a rule they are off-dry to sweet wines.

3. Acidity Level

Moscato has really lovely levels of acidity, about medium-high on the scale. This helps to balance out the sweetness of the wine.

4. Tannin Level

Moscato has no tannins, which helps to keep the style so light and fresh.

5. Body

Moscato wines have a very light body, which is fitting for such a floral and aromatic style of wine.

So is there just one type of Moscato?

Or are there multiple different types of sweet Moscato wine?

Sweet Types of Moscato Wine

As with all things in wine and in life, there is more than meets the eye with Moscato wine.

Moscato is made from a family of grapes called Muscat, so can be made in lots of different styles.

That’s what makes it such an exciting wine.

1. Moscato d’Asti

This is a sparkling Moscato made in the Asti region of Italy (hence the name).

This style of sweet Moscato is fizzy with lots of floral aromatics and really fresh acidity. A perfect poolside wine.

2. Pink Moscato

Not only can you get sweet Moscato, you can get pink Moscato too!

A little bit of Merlot is often added here to create luscious sunset colours and beautiful strawberry aromas in the glass.

3. Moscato Dessert Wines

In France, Spain and Portugal there are even sweeter Moscato wines to be found, often named after the Muscat grape used to make the wine.

Think Moscato, but concentrated. So lots of rich, succulent dried fruit and honeyed aromatics.

So with all of these different styles, does that make Moscato sweeter than Prosecco?

Is Moscato Sweeter Than Prosecco?

Yes, for the most part, Moscato is sweeter than Prosecco.

Whilst there are sweeter styles of Prosecco vs Moscato which tends to have more naturally occurring residual sugars than Prosecco.

Although it’s always important to check the labels here as some Proseccos may have sugar added to them in the wine making process.

The next time an occasion calls for some sparkling wine, why not open a bottle of Prosecco alongside a Moscato for your very own taste test?

That’s the fun with learning about wine, the only way to be sure is to drink them and learn for yourself.

It’s a hard life.

Before You Go... 

We hope this article answers any questions you may have on Is Moscato Sweet?

Make sure you take a look at how long Moscato lasts? And find out all about how to store this sweet wine correctly.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments, or email us at info@expertwinestorage.co.uk

You can browse more posts on Wine Types here

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