Asti and Moscato d’Asti: expert’s choice

It’s easy to overlook the wines of Asti, given the other vinous treasures on offer in the Piedmont region.

In fact, the western border of the Asti DOCG zone extends to Serralunga d’Alba, home to some of Barolo’s most noteworthy wines. Yet Asti is central to the region’s wine industry, representing about 35% of its total production.

According to the Consorzio dell’Asti, 85% of Asti production is exported; key international markets include Germany, Russia and the US.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top Asti and Moscato d’Asti wines

The Asti DOC was established in 1967 and was promoted to DOCG status in 1993, although winemaking here predates the modern legislation by centuries.

The DOCG covers 9,700ha of vines in the provinces of Asti, Alessandria and Cuneo, with three defined sub-zones (Santa Vittoria d’Alba, Strevi and Canelli – the latter set to attain its own DOCG as of the 2022 harvest) and four styles of wine.

What are the styles of Asti DOCG?

The two most common styles and the focus of this tasting are Asti and Moscato d’Asti, while the other two styles cover Asti Metodo Classico – of which I’ve included one example – and the rare late-harvest Moscato d’Asti Vendemmia Tardiva.

All four wine styles must consist of at least 97% Moscato Bianco, with the difference made up by other local aromatic varieties, but in practice most Asti wines are single-varietal.

Asti

What was officially called Asti Spumante until 1993 is now officially just ‘Asti’ – not to be confused with the Asti DOCG in its entirety.

Asti has suffered from a bad rap, at least in the UK, for being low-priced, simple and sweet. This is not entirely fair, however, as in the hands of skilled winemakers these wines effortlessly showcase the incredible fragrance of Moscato Bianco (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains) when combined with Piedmont’s altitudinal freshness.

It was Federico Martinotti, from the province of Asti, who invented the tank method for controlled fermentation in large vats in 1895.

Fifteen years later, Eugène Charmat developed the autoclave design that is still used today. This Martinotti-Charmat method is used for many sparkling wines, including Prosecco, but Asti is unique in that the grape must is fermented only once. It absorbs some of the carbon dioxide during fermentation in pressurised autoclaves, which gives it its sparkle, and the single fermentation retains all the aromatic fruity freshness of the Moscato grape.

When the desired alcohol level is reached, the autoclave is chilled to stop fermentation and the wine is filtered to remove the yeast before bottling.

Production regulations traditionally stipulated that sparkling Asti should have alcohol no higher than 9.5%, but modifications in 2017 and 2020 eliminated this limit, meaning that today Asti can be fermented to dryness, naturally reaching 11%-11.5% alcohol.

Among the 24 sparkling Asti samples I tasted for this feature, there were only a trio of dry (secco) Asti, but I found that this style worked excellently with the delicate floral, fruity character of Moscato.

The additional alcohol and leaner, fresher feel give these secco wines a bit more punch and structure compared to traditional sweet (dolce) wines. The Asti Secco style is well suited to modern consumer tastes, so expect to see more of it on the shelves.

See all 59 Moscato and Moscato d’Asti wines tasted for this feature

Moscato d’Asti

Moscato d’Asti is the sweeter, frizzante alternative to slightly drier and fully sparkling Asti.

The complexity of floral notes – especially in wines from the Canelli sub-zone – and juicy exotic fruits, combined with subtle licks of cream, gentle fizz and rounding sugar, makes Moscato d’Asti a superb sunshine wine – and its low alcohol level is ideal for lazy lunches!

Just be aware that while the alcohol level might encourage you to polish off a bottle by yourself, Moscato d’Asti generally contains more sugar per litre than Coca-Cola at 106g/L!

The top Asti and Moscato d’Asti wines:

See all 59 wines tasted for this feature

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