Winey Tasting Notes: Oliver Winery Lemon Moscato

Summer sipping has its own kind of feel, doesn’t it? I am never one to turn down a nice big red wine, but there are those evenings when you just gotta go lighter and brighter.

So when I spied a wine that had the word “lemon” on the label I had to do a double take. Lemon is one of my favorites – be it a flavor or a scent (there may be a LOT of lemon scented candles around the winey house). And here was a wine just looking all bright and lemony and sunny for summer.

The wine in question is Oliver Winery and Vineyard’s Lemon Moscato (Indiana, 6.8 AB, NV). I have been a big fan of the winery for a while now, having my first sip of one of their wines over a decade ago. (Winey Tasting Notes: Oliver Moscato – From Indiana? Yup!) And yes, it’s a winery in Indiana, just a bit north of Bloomington. Now I realize that our brains might not automatically head to Indiana when the word wine pops up, but trust me when I tell you that they have some great wines.

Ok back to the Lemon Moscato. It’s part of the winery’s Vine Series, which also includes a blueberry Moscato that is on my soon-to-sip list. The Moscato is a blend of Muscat Canelli and Muscat Alexander. And then in goes the pure lemon extract. So the Moscato brings the sweetness but the lemon extract keeps it in check. My first thought was that this was just like sipping lemon bars – sweet but with that kick of citrus and that special little lemon sourness that refreshes. The bubbles helped lots in keeping the wine lively and light. Plus with its low alcohol content, you can indulge a bit more.(Yay.)

It’s good on its own, but don’t be afraid to add some frozen raspberries or blueberries to your glass. If you want to spritz it, some tonic water is a great way to go. And dare I say, how about a little gin with that tonic to make it a summer G&T? For the record, they were all pretty darn good.

I found this wine in multiple stores around me, including some big box stores, and it was priced in the neighborhood of $11.99.

Cheers to lemon and summer!

Sweetness: semi-dry Acidity: medium Tannin: n/a Alcohol: low Body: light