Know Valvin Muscat? Hunt Country Vineyards Does.

By Jason Feuler, Finger Lakes Correspondent

Last weekend I attended a reception at Hunt Country Vineyards on the northwestern tip of Keuka's left branch to celebrate the first available vintage of Valvin Muscat. This hybrid is, like the name implies, a genetic relative of the ancient and prolific muscat grape which is grown the world over, but usually in warmer climates.

The few muscats I've had in the past were aromatic, food-friendly whites with good balance. How does its cousin compare? Actually, quite well. The Valvin Muscat I tried at Hunt Country left me with most of the good impressions of a muscat and the mid-palate did not suffer from the same flatness that plagues many hybrids. Overall, it was very good white by any standard.

Chris Wirth, the winemaker, is pleased with his creation. "We had some experimental rows planted for the last few years, and they were turning out very nicely. It didn't take long for us to decide to release a vintage of this grape."

Valvin Muscat is known genetically as 62-122.01 and was first developed in 1962 by the Cornell Experimental Station in Geneva. "When the Cornell folks test the drinkability of wines they don't filter and prepare them for general consumption," explains winery owner Art Hunt, "so sometimes good grapes can seem a little rough. When I first tasted the Valvin it was great, and I knew that this would be a good grape to experiment with and produce."

Art's wife and co-owner Joyce Hunt took the opportunity of the Valvin Muscat's release to ask local restaurant Snug Harbor in Hammondsport to prepare some dishes to pair with the new wine. The result was a pleasing buffet of spicy shrimp, smoked lake trout salad, and white truffle macaroni and cheese. All the dishes were fantastic on their own and each paired with the Valvin Muscat very well, showing both the skill of Snug Harbor's chef and the flexibility of muscat in general.

Hunt County has been a winery since 1981, but it is in fact a six-generation family farm that stretches back well into the 19th-Century. The tasting room has one of the best patron-friendly setups of any Finger Lakes winery and the hospitality extends to the warm personalities of Art and Joyce who graciously introduced me to as many guests as possible. The premier of Valvin Muscat was a fun and informative event.

Hunt Country is not the only Finger Lakes winery to have bottled Valvin Muscat, but they are one of only a few and their efforts have produced a food-friendly, drinkable white that should appeal to both lovers of vinifera and those who seek out wines for casual summer sipping.  Hunt Country's Valvin Muscat will retail for $14.99.  I am curious to see how the public responds to this varietal and whether or not other Finger Lakes wineries will begin to produce it as well.

 

Comments

[Lenn]

Jason,

Thanks for this piece. As you know, we're heading to Keuka Lake tomorrow and I think we'll be visiting Hunt Country on Monday.

AND, we're having dinner at Snug Harbor Saturday night after we arrive!

Lenn

[Iulianis]

I wish it was easy for me to get to taste this wine, but given I live somewhere across the ocean it will be pretty difficult.

Anyway, thanks for your impressions and for the nice blog and articles you have. I should continue reading yet to get more tips about wines.

[Bryan]

There seem to be several Muscat variations depending on geography and lineage thus making it confusing for most wine drinkers these days. When a friend of mine up here in Niagara mentioned he may plant Muscat, it hardly became obvious what type he meant. It will be interesting to see if this one can break the hybrid stigma that affects marketing wines like this.

[Jason Feulner]

Marketing does seem difficult in these situations. It's possible that the muscat you encountered is an entirely different hybrid and would have an entirely different official name, even if its qualities were very similar. It's hard to imagine most consumers taking a chance with XXX Muscat without a winery tasting experience.

Heck, even if a winery planted just plain Muscat (although I'm sure there are 100 different clones) and labeled it as such, it's still not a recognizable varietal name. Shouldn't we all be drinking Rkatsiteli, Muscat, and Gewurztraminer instead of Chardonnay?

[Martin]

Thanks for the post, Jason! When I read the title, I jumped out of my chair. I knew the varietal had only recently been named, and had tried my first example of one from estate-grown fruit from Oliver Winery in south-central Indiana. Very floral, tropical, yet fresh and totally drinkable, and a fantastic wine for many hard-to-pair cuisines. Not the easiest grapes to grow in their vineyard, but probably one of my favorite hybrid wines (aside from Chambourcin) that I've had in a long while. Rock on, Valvin Muscat.