Hello, sweet readers! I hope you enjoyed your Valentine’s Day, and hopefully the fun is continuing into this week and beyond. Love should not be limited to just one day, am I right? 😉

I apologize for not having this post up in time for Valentine’s Day; full-time life has a way of being full-time. No complaints. Even though February 14th has come and gone, this is something you can enjoy anytime just for the fun of it; no reason needed. ❤

Andiamo! Today, we’re zipping over to Italy in our wine glasses; to be specific, the Piedmont region of Northwest Italy, which is famous the world over for a sweet, sparkling dessert wine: Moscato d’Asti.

I recently shared with you how sparkling wine is made, via the traditional method and the tank method. There is a third way known as the Asti method, which we’ll talk about now.

While your traditional and tank method sparkling wines (e.g. Champagne and Prosecco) begin with dry wine, sugar, and yeast, an Asti method sparkling wine starts with grape juice and yeast. The yeast begins to ferment the grape juice in a sealed, pressurized tank. The initial carbon dioxide created from fermentation is allowed to escape, but then along the way the tank is resealed and additional carbon dioxide generated is trapped inside, creating bubbly wine. Before the yeasts completely eat all the sugars and create a dry wine, they are stopped via filtration and removed. This means there is still sugar (sweetness) left, and thus you have a sweet, low alcohol, sparkling wine.

So what is Moscato d’Asti and why choose it for Valentine’s Day? Or for any time?

• Muscat (Moscato is the Italian name) is one of the earliest domesticated wine grapes: a supremely aromatic white grape variety hailing originally from Greece. When you hear the phrase, “nectar of the gods”, I imagine the Greeks could have been talking about Muscat wine. And it’s funny because ambrosia, the canned fruit cocktail/whipped cream/marshmallow salad, is a potent aroma of the wine.
• It tastes REALLY good! It’s a delicious dessert wine that will please someone who maybe is not a “huge wine drinker” but it will also please a connoisseur. It’s a famous wine of the world you just need to know about.
• It tends to be pretty affordable, so you can spend your extra money on other things for your loved one(s).

There are a number of options on the market, but I went with this entry-level one because it is delicious, widely available, and also I love the blue glass bottle:

Risata Moscato d’Asti

• $10.97 at Total Wine & More
• 5.5% ABV
• Pale lemon color
• Sweet!
• Light body
• Low alcohol
• Delicate, fizzy bubbles
• Aromas of seashell, honeysuckle, pear, lime, orange, stone fruit, honey
• Flavors of grape, peach, tangerine

This wine is obviously plenty delightful on its own; it is, after all, a dessert wine.

But believe it or not, Moscato pairs beautifully with desserts. Wedding cake never met a better match.

Don’t believe everything you hear about “champagne and chocolate” or “champagne and cake”. If you’ve ever actually put those things together in your mouth at about the same time, you know those combinations are heinous, and I do not use that word lightly. All kinds of foul and nasty flavors that never should be are suddenly at war on your palate.

Please. Spare yourself and your loved ones the atrocity and serve Moscato with your wedding cake.

For this pairing, I baked some sugar cookies with vanilla buttercream frosting. I even tried a cookie (or two) with a glass of Moscato, just to make sure it wasn’t going to be horrendous.

Spoiler alert, it was anything but! You are going to love this! ❤

All this tasting and experimenting is hard work, but that’s my job as a wine blogger: to serve you and protect you from vile food and wine pairings. And I take my duties seriously! 🙂

These cookies are buttery, scrumptious morsels that say “I love you” in every bite. They are also customizable, in that you can play up the flavors in the buttercream frosting to complement the flavors in your Moscato. Think vanilla or almond extract, citrus zest, maybe even a touch of peach or pear juice/syrup? Just pick one flavor at a time, though. 🙂

“Take me to your Moscato….”

Sugar Cookies with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
(Heavily modified from the sugar cookie recipe in The Cookie Book by Rebecca Firth)
Makes approximately 48 cookies
*If you do not have a large-capacity stand mixer (6-8 quarts), this recipe will be taxing on your mixer (it’s a huge quantity of cookies). Halve the recipe, if you want. I would advise using an electric hand mixer or your own brawny muscles and a very durable spoon. 🙂

The Cookies

Ingredients

Instructions

Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

• 8 T unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 1-2 T milk
• 1-2 tsp. extract, fresh fruit zest or fresh fruit juice to flavor, optional (but recommended!)
• Gel food coloring, optional
• Sprinkles, optional

Instructions

• To make the buttercream, in an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle, add the butter, powdered sugar, and milk. Mix on medium until smooth.
• Add in any extracts for flavor or food coloring, if using.
• Add more powdered sugar in 1 T increments if the buttercream is too thin, or, conversely, add more milk in 1 tsp. increments if the buttercream is too thick. Proceed with sprinkles, if using.
• Frost your cooled cookies. Since this frosting contains milk, everything will need to be stored in a covered container in the fridge for up to one week.

Is your sweet tooth stimulated? For additional Valentine’s Day food and wine inspiration, check out some past posts:

Barbera
Snickers Cheesecake
Grape Galette and Sparkling Wine
Dark Chocolate and Ruby Port
White Chocolate and Orange Muscat
Charcuterie and Wine Pairings
Milk Chocolate and Brachetto
Chocolate and Brachetto