Symphony

[KaijaRowan]

On New Year's Eve, I tried a new wine and was told that the grapes that this particular wine was made from were Symphony Grapes. Is this true? Can anyone tell me more about these wines?

[mrdutton]

Was the wine you tried a sparkler by any chance?

Symphony grapes - White-wine producing grape-cross derived from Muscat of Alexandria and Grenache Gris created by a Univ. Davis viticulturist. May be the variety grown in the Alsace region of France known as Symphonie. The grape is mainly found in the Central Valley of California and used for blending purposes in the creation of sweet and sparkling wines.

Muscat of Alexandria - (a.k.a Chasselas Musque in France, Muscat Gordo Blanco or Lexia in Australia and Hanepoot in South Africa). Ancient grape species with many synonym names suitable for similar Mediterranean growing climates as the Muscat Blanc. Makes sweet wines that are usually judged of inferior quality compared to those of the Muscat Blanc cépage varieties. The main use in California is for producing table grapes and raisins. Also widely grown in Spain, where it is called Moscatel de Alejandria, and Portugal where winemakers in the latter country use it to make "Moscatel de Setubal" sweet wine.

Grenache Gris - Thought to be a mutated version of Grenache. Used to produce undistinguished white wines in southern France. Has premier synonym name Garnacha Rosa in Spain. Also known as Grey Grenache. Is one of the parent varieties used to create the cross named Symphony mainly grown in California.

The above information comes courtesy of www.stratsplace.com where a very large grape variety database by Anthony Hawkins is maintained.

[KaijaRowan]

Now that would be too easy wouldn't it. Unfortunatly, it wasn't a sparkling wine. It was very sweet, and had a great aftertaste of fresh, dare I say grass?

[Innkeeper]

Well maybe you had the sweet version.

[KaijaRowan]

Thanks for the information, I think they are really trying to up the quality of the Symphony grape and thus the wines. It was a wonderful bottle. I normally don't like sweet whites, and stick to Cab. or Zin.. But this was a wonderful exception. I feel that the people who enjoy White Zin. would really like this one. It had more body and ripeness to the flavor than any White Zin. I have ever had. Worth a try