National Moscato Day
Moscato is the Italian name for a wine made with Muscat Blanc, white grapes that are among the oldest winemaking grapes in the world. These are light, sweet wines that any wine aficionado is going to instantly fall in love with. That’s probably why an entire holiday has been created around this particular wine. This holiday is National Moscato Day, and it’s celebrated by wine lovers all over the world on May 9th every year.
The History Of National Moscato Day
Even though the grape variety used to make this wine has been around for centuries, the holiday itself has only been around since 2012. This is when the Gallo Family Vineyards created the holiday to draw attention to their affordable Moscato line. Gallo is a family-owned vineyard that has been making wines for over 87 years.
More About Muscat Grapes
Although when most people mention Moscato wines, they’re likely thinking about the white wines made with Muscat Blanc grapes, there are other varieties of Muscat grapes available that are used for winemaking. In fact, there are over 200 different Muscat varieties, and they can vary in color from white or yellow to pink and even an almost black color.
What’s remarkable about these grapes is not only the variety of colors they’re available in but also their long lineage. Muscat grapes are believed by many experts to have been cultivated by the ancient Persians and Egyptians around 5,000 years ago. Other experts believe that they’ve only been propagated for the last 2,600 to 2,800 years. Regardless of exactly when humankind first started propagating these grapes, they’ve been around for a very long time.
It’s believed that the word for these grapes, Muscat, comes from the Persian word “Muchk,” but other people claim that the word comes from the Italian word “Mosca.” Another theory is that these grapes are named after the city of Muscat, which was located on the coast of the Gulf of Oman. And those aren’t the only theories as to how these grapes received their name, so we’re going to go ahead and say that no one actually knows the origin of the name of these winemaking grapes.
Other Types Of Muscat Grapes
Below are some other Muscat grapes that are used to make various types of wines.
- Muscat Swenson
- Manzoni Moscato
- Canadian Muscat
- Golden Muscat
- Muscat Bleu
Celebrating National Moscato Day
Celebrating this holiday is as easy as serving some Moscato wine with lunch or dinner, or even having it just with a nice plate of cheese. It’s also a good day for people to invite their friends and family to help them polish off their newly bought bottle of this wine. And while they’re celebrating this holiday, they should be sure to use the hashtag #NationalMoscatoDay to let everyone know they’re having the time of their lives.