Wine Denomination from Piedmont
Moscato d'Asti is a gently fizzy, lightly sweet white wine from southern Piedmont, northwest Italy, made from the Moscato Bianco grape. It is low in alcohol and sealed with a regular cork. Its fully sparkling sibling, Asti (often still called Asti Spumante), is closed with a mushroom cork and wire cage, like Champagne. Both come from the same vineyards in the provinces of Asti, Cuneo and Alessandria, and both have been DOCG, Italy's top quality level, since 1993.
The two wines share a grape and a zone, but they feel very different in the glass:
- Moscato d'Asti is frizzante: lightly sparkling, with soft bubbles that fade quickly. It has only about 5–5.5% alcohol and plenty of natural grape sugar. It is the more delicate and perfumed of the two, and the one most small growers make.
- Asti (Asti Spumante) is spumante: fully sparkling, with more pressure and a lasting mousse. The classic style is sweet, with about 7–9% alcohol. Since 2017 the rules also allow drier versions, sold as Asti Secco, which are closer in style to an off-dry Prosecco.
Both are usually made the same way. The grape juice is chilled and stored, then fermented in sealed steel tanks when the winery needs fresh wine. Fermentation is stopped early by chilling, so the wine keeps its sugar, its aromas and some of its natural bubbles.
Moscato d'Asti smells exactly like fresh grapes, with notes of ripe peach, apricot, orange blossom, honeysuckle and sage. On the palate it is sweet but light, and good examples have enough acidity to taste fresh rather than sugary. Asti Spumante has the same fruit and flowers, with livelier bubbles and a little more alcohol. Neither wine is meant to age: buy the most recent vintage and drink it within a year or two.
They are often found on the same shelf, but they are different wines:
- Grape and place: Prosecco is made from Glera in northeast Italy (Veneto and Friuli). Moscato d'Asti is made from Moscato Bianco in Piedmont.
- Sweetness: most Prosecco is dry to off-dry. Moscato d'Asti is clearly sweet.
- Alcohol: Prosecco has about 11% alcohol, roughly twice as much as Moscato d'Asti.
- Bubbles: Prosecco is fully sparkling. Moscato d'Asti is only lightly fizzy; Asti Spumante is the fully sparkling one.
If you want a dry aperitif, choose Prosecco. If you want something sweet, fragrant and light to drink with dessert, choose Moscato d'Asti. Our Italian sparkling wine guide compares all the main styles.
Both. "Moscato" is simply the Italian name for the Muscat family of grapes, grown all around the Mediterranean. Moscato Bianco is the same variety the French call Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, used for sweet wines such as Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise. Moscato d'Asti and Asti, however, are always Italian: the name is protected and can only be used for wine from this part of Piedmont.
Be careful with cheap bottles labeled just "Moscato". Many are made outside Italy, often from other Muscat varieties, and have nothing to do with the Asti DOCG. A real Moscato d'Asti says "Moscato d'Asti DOCG" on the label.
Moscato d'Asti is good value. In the US, most bottles from quality growers cost about $15–25, and Asti Spumante is often a little cheaper. Single-vineyard bottles from top estates rarely cost more than about $30. Because the wine should be drunk young, there is no point paying extra for an older vintage.
The best Moscato d'Asti comes from small growers who make it with as much care as their dry wines. Producers to look for:
- Moscato specialists: La Caudrina (try La Galeisa), Elio Perrone (Sourgal), Paolo Saracco, Ca' d' Gal (Vite Vecchia) and Valter Bera.
- Famous estates that also make Moscato: La Spinetta (Bricco Quaglia), Ceretto (I Vignaioli di Santo Stefano), Michele Chiarlo (Nivole), Vajra, Massolino, Braida and Marchesi di Barolo.
For the fully sparkling style, try the Asti Spumante of Ca' d' Gal, Valter Bera or La Caudrina (La Selvatica).
The hills around Canelli and Santo Stefano Belbo have the longest history of Moscato growing and are often seen as the heart of the area. Canelli was first a sub-zone of Moscato d'Asti and, since 2023, has had its own Canelli DOCG. Santa Vittoria d'Alba and Strevi are the other named sub-zones. The rules also allow a late-harvest, still and sweeter Moscato d'Asti Vendemmia Tardiva, which is rare.
Serve both wines well chilled, at about 6–8°C (43–46°F), in a white-wine glass or a tulip-shaped flute. A wide glass shows off the aromas better than a narrow flute. Once opened, Moscato d'Asti loses its fizz within a day or so, so finish the bottle or keep it tightly stoppered in the fridge.
With its low alcohol and gentle sweetness, Moscato d'Asti works best with light desserts and fruit: peach or apricot tart, fruit salad, panettone, sponge cake and the Piedmontese hazelnut cake, torta di nocciole. It is also an easy brunch wine, with pastries, pancakes or fresh berries, and a pleasant match for mild blue cheese. Avoid rich chocolate desserts, which make it taste thin; for chocolate, try a red sparkling Brachetto d'Acqui instead.
Moscato d'Asti is pronounced moh-SKAH-toh DAHS-tee. "D'Asti" simply means "from Asti", the town that gives the area its name.
Asti is also home to the red Barbera d'Asti. Read our Piedmont wine guide for the region's other wines, see our Italian dessert wines guide for more sweet bottles, or browse every Asti in our catalog below.