Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise AC [mews-KAH (muhs-KAT) duh bohm duh vuh-NEEZ]
appellation located in France’s southern Rhône region. The wine, made from Muscat à Petits Grains (Muscat) grapes, is a vin doux naturel. This is a category of sweet, fortified wine made from grapes that are high in natural sugar (capable of reaching 15 percent alcohol) and whose fermentation is stopped by the addition of alcohol (no more than 10 percent of the volume). Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise has blossomed from a little-known local potable enjoyed by Beaumes-de-Venise residents to an extremely popular, high-priced wine. It’s rich, honeyed, and full of floral and fruit aromas and flavors like peaches, apples, oranges, roses, and the ever-present grapey character of Muscat. Good acidity stops it from being cloying.
The New Wine Lovers Companion, 2nd Edition, by Ron Herbst and Sharon Tyler Herbst. Copyright © (1) 2003, 1995 by Ron Herbst and Sharon Tyler Herbst. Reprinted by arrangement with Barron's Educational Series, Inc.