Home   >   Latest wine reviews   >   Abacela 2013 Estate Muscat, Umpqua Valley, $16

Abacela 2013 Estate Muscat, Umpqua Valley, $16

By on September 15, 2014

abacela-estate-muscat-2013-bottleA few years ago, founding winemaker Earl Jones decided to create an off-dry white option for visitors to his Southern Oregon tasting room. He went with one of the world’s oldest varieties, and it didn’t take Andrew Wenzl much time to dial this in — earning our top rating for the second straight vintage. In 2013, they had their Early Muscat and Muscat Blanc vines plucked on Sept. 14, and it offers the quintessential Muscat nose of lychee, rosewater, Texas pink grapefruit, cotton candy and bubblegum with tremendous spicy hints of cardamom, clove and cinnamon. On the palate, it’s akin to a spoonful of spiced grapefruit and a nibble of lychee nut, followed by a roundness on the midpalate of poached pear. There’s pleasing acidity to join Muscat’s typical citrus pith bitterness, and while the residual sugar is listed at 3.5%, that sweetness appears merely as a gift at the end. Suggested pairings include Asian foods with heat or tapas featuring Serrano ham.

Rating: Outstanding!

Production: 149 cases

Alcohol: 12.7%

Winery website

About Great Northwest Wine

Articles authored by Great Northwest Wine are co-authored by Eric Degerman and Andy Perdue. In most cases, these are wine reviews that are judged blind by the Great Northwest Wine tasting panel.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *