The Muscat Grape Variety at Puech-Haut

Muscat is the name of a family of grape varieties, among the oldest in cultivation. What unites them is an aroma recognisable among all others, that of fresh grapes, often with notes of flowers, citrus and exotic fruit. This perfume is found in dry wines as well as sweet ones: the same grape can make either.

The Languedoc has made it a speciality. The vins doux naturels of Muscat de Frontignan, Lunel, Mireval and Saint-Jean-de-Minervois are among the best known in the region. Frontignan, Lunel and Mireval are in the Hérault, like the estate in Saint-Drézéry. In the Languedoc, Muscat therefore first brings sweet wine to mind.

Puech-Haut uses it differently, as a dry white, to bring perfume to a blend. The estate grows Muscat in Saint-Drézéry alongside Roussanne, Marsanne and Viognier; around a quarter of its vines there are white varieties. These grapes gradually joined the Syrah and Grenache planted at the outset, on clay-limestone soils covered with rolled pebbles, in the AOP Languedoc.

Muscat goes into the blend of Argali white, one of the estate's two flagship whites with Tête de Bélier white. It is a clear, crystalline white with an intense nose of exotic fruit and citrus, two notes typical of the grape itself. Muscat lends it part of its perfume, alongside Grenache Blanc and Rolle in particular. Its role in the blend can be summed up in a few words: fresh grape aromas.

The estate's vines, Muscat included, are farmed sustainably. The soils are worked mechanically. Eighty sheep, led by a shepherd, graze between the rows from autumn to spring and replace weedkillers.

A white containing Muscat, such as Argali, goes well with asparagus, gently spiced dishes and fish. Its perfume of fresh grapes and flowers also pairs well with Asian cuisine. Serve it chilled, between 8 and 10 °C, and drink it fairly young, in its first few years, when its aromas are at their liveliest.