Yikes, it’s New Years Eve tomorrow and I still haven’t gotten the libations. My guests like Moscato d’Asti but I don’t know one Asti from another.
Any brand recommendations? Any other suggestions of similar wines they may like?
I’m not a connoisseur so perhaps someone will be along to suggest something better, but everyone I’ve served Marco Negri moscato d’asti to has loved it, and it’s not terribly expensive at around $16 - $18 a bottle.
P.S. - Get some shortbread cookies to serve with it. A marriage made in heaven. 
What, too good for Freixenet? 
While Freixenet is a mass marketed, popular brand that some may look down upon, a good bottle of Spanish Cava is on of the true joys of the season, and many different great ones can be had for around 10 bucks a bottle.
Especially with wines, just because it’s cheap dosent have to mean it will not taste good, and just because you pay top dollar for something dosent guarantee that you will find it to be delicious.
PS—I was going to recommend trying a bottle of Cava before I read StoutHearted’s comment, which do I realise was made in good humor…
Hahaha, sorry… I actually do like and drink the stuff. But I’m a Philbilly, so what do I know?
Well, since you asked for winos I’m going to have to recommend Boone’s Farm, preferably the red vintage. It doesn’t hit as hard as some, but it also doesn’t make your teeth black like T-Bird or give you the crushing hangover of Night Train.
If you get something silly like Cisco you’re on your own.
Philbilly?
Philadelphia hillbilly, a term my friends and I coined (though I don’t think we’re so original to have been the first) for folks like me from Northeast Philadelphia. Let me put it this way: in my neighborhood, we had someone growing corn in the tiny, stamp-sized patch of grass in their front yard.
Cool----I had not heard that one before, but I havent been to Philadelphia for a few years now, though I have always enjoyed my visits there in years past.
Back to cava…
I spent a month or so in Spain a couple of years back, where I discovered that Spanish cerveza is not (IMHO) too great, (beer is typically my go to alcoholic beverage of choice) and I mentioned it to a bartender one night. She recommended trying the local cava and I ended up enjoying it so much (as well as the stunningly beautiful senoritas and the exceptional seafood) that I ended up extending my visit by a couple of extra weeks!!!
Since then, I have been trying to turn on friends to the joys of a good, cheap bottle of cava to anyone who will listen, and so when I read Ruby’s OP…
Barefoot Moscato Spumante is pretty good, I seem to remember. Of course, that was already our second bottle of wine, so everything was a little… fuzzy by then. It’s pretty cheap, too. $10 for a 750mL bottle at my local liquor store.
Edit: Upon further research, I see that Moscato d’Asti is a still wine, not sparkling. Barefoot also makes a regular Moscato that’s pretty good, too. I just had some after dinner tonight, in fact!
[QUOTE=Electronic Chaos;11940072Edit: Upon further research, I see that Moscato d’Asti is a still wine, not sparkling. [/QUOTE]
I thought it was a sparkling wine as well…
If you don’t have too many guests, and/or you want to break out the good stuff after most but the closest are gone, see if you can find this: http://www.thepartysource.com/psearch/item.php?id=9411
serve with nuts, dried apricots and stinky cheeses (bleu!) for the special afterparty.
Otherwise, for a sheer volume party wine, the Barefoot suggestion is pretty good for the price. Kroger’s carries all their wines and they are about $12 for a magnum of it around here.
If you have any good wine/large party stores like Jungle Jim’s/Trader Joe’s, etc in your area I would seek out one of those and find an amiable wine associate to guide you.
Edit: a reminder about moscatos…they make good late night cappers because like many other dessert wines, they are pretty low in alcohol and generally possess a pronounced, floral orange flavor. So you won’t be adding to your January 1 hangover (much) by having a small glass of this late night.
The “Asti” part refers to the region in which it is made. So “Asti Spumante” is a Spumante wine made in Asti. So, Moscato d’Asti is a Moscato wine made in Asti. Though, apparently Asti Spumante is also made with Moscato grapes. At least, this is what Wikipedia is telling me.
It is a sparkling wine. I’ve seen and drunk the bubbles myself.
ETA: I was told by a liquor store mook that "d’Asti’ meant it was sparkling. Since the Moscato d’Asti I’ve had was sparkling but the Moscato I’ve had was not, I assumed he was correct. Are you sure about ‘d’Asti’ denoting locale?
I’m pretty sure that’s correct. Many European wines, particularly French and Italian ones are identified by region first and grape second (or sometimes, not at all). The assumption about the sparkling part there is that 99% of all moscato grapes grown in the Asti region are turned into Spumante wine, which is sparkling.
There are what can be pretty confusing wine laws in place in some of these countries that dictate (by law!) what kind of grapes you can grow in a certain region and actually have the bottle say its a “Wine X”.
Bordeaux is a perfect example of this. To call your wine a “red bordeaux”, it must by law be composed of any combination of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot grapes grown only in the identified regions of Bordeaux.
Its the old saying, “all Champagnes are sparkling wines, but not all sparkling wines are Champagne”.
Liquor store mook was wrong. d’Asti means a wine from the Italian DOCG Asti. It’s planted almost entirely to Moscato Bianco.
Spumante means it’s a sparkling wine, as does frizzante, although frizzante signifies a less fizzy wine, usually made fizzy by forced carbonation.
Your friends might like a good Prosecco, or one of my favorite wines in that style with a bit more sweetness to it - Toad Hollow’s Risque from the Limoux region of FRance.
Very good, FoieGras. Ignorance fought. Thank you.
And since you’re here, how would you rate the Marco Negri? I have to confess it’s the first I tried and since everyone seems to like it, I’ve stuck with it. I’d be interested to know if you feel there is a better one at that price point ($16 to $18).
And on preview, thanks to you too, psycat90. And thanks for the recommendations. I’ll give 'em a try. (Always happy to expand my winey horizons. ;))
Marco Negri is a high-quality Moscato producer, IIRC. I’ve been out of the loop for awhile, and vintages (and therefore, your mileage) may vary. Of course. Check though, they may have a generic bottling (remember that in many European wines, the more place/vineyard specific they become, the more expensive/rarer they become) and/or a non-vintage bottling. Quality isn’t as assured, but even small-batch, generally high-quality producers have to do something with the grapes they deem inferior, and most of the time, also result in good wines for much cheaper prices.
Very good. Thank you.