One of my favorite ways to start off an evening, especially at a social gathering, is with a glass of Moscato d’Asti. One whiff of the seductively fragrant fruity aromas brings happy thoughts of warm weather and the colorful ripe fruits found front and center at every food market. It really doesn’t matter what time of year it is, the wine’s presence puts everyone in a good mood.

**The charming village of Asti, in the northwestern Italy’s Piedmont region.**

Moscato d’Asti is a semisweet, low alcohol, lightly sparkling (frizzante in Italian) wine. Most people consider it a dessert wine, but it can be much more than an end-of-meal pleaser.

As a wine of great freshness and delicate effervescence, it can go just as well, maybe even better, with hors d’oeuvres—think cheese and charcuterie, smoked salmon and caviar, fresh figs and cantaloupe, marinated artichokes, roasted peppers, and, a personal favorite, oven-crisped sage leaves. The combination of a lightly sweet wine with savory, and salty bites brings out the best of both. Moscato d’Asti is more about fruitiness than sugary-sweetness, loaded with aromatics and flavors of perfectly ripe apricots, peaches, and, to a lesser degree, tropical fruits like pineapple and passionfruit. Citrus fruits—lemon, lime, grapefruit—also play a part, bringing a beautiful acidity to these wines.

If the idea of having a sweet wine before dinner isn’t your jam (no pun intended!), perhaps you would prefer to have Moscato d’Asti in a cocktail, where the sweet taste is tempered by the additions of more tart ingredients, as in any cocktail. You can put Moscato d’Asti on ice, add a tablespoon of lemon or lime juice, a couple of sage leaves, perhaps a slice of ripe peach and you’re good to go. You could even add some vodka or gin if you want more of a kick.

When I was in Piedmont, in the province of Asti, as a guest of the region’s wine consortium, evenings began with Moscato d’Asti as the aperitivo, then moved on to other wines of the region during dinner—with plenty incredible choices, as Barolo, Barbaresco and Barbera wines come from Piedmont as well. The end of each evening returned, for dessert, to the region’s sweet bubbles.

I prefer to have these delicate wines with items that aren’t overly sweet, like zabaglione topped with fresh fruit, or a slice of pound cake made from olive oil, lemon or hazelnut, topped with nuts and fresh berries.

The Wine Chef’s Zabaglione recipe

Recently I was sent a box of Moscato d’Asti from the Consorzio dell’Asti DOCG. What fun it was to taste these wines—mid-afternoon no less. You can do that with wines that have a low ABV of 5%, without feeling the need for a nap afterwards.

Moscato d’Asti should be served chilled and in white wine glasses or champagne flutes. And did I mention what a good value Moscato d’Asti is, with most wines ranging from $15-$20?

Below are five top choices, from the 2021 vintage which is at its peak for drinking now, while young and fresh. Other top producers of Moscato d’Asti include Vietti, Michele Chiarlo, Marchesi di Gresy, Coppo, Marenco, Ceretto, and La Caudrina.

Learn more about this historic sparkling wine from the beautiful Piedmontese hills in my article, Three Reasons Moscato d’Asti Should Be On Your Table This Summer.

Terrabianca Vignot Moscato d’Asti. This wine was a favorite. It reminded me of a fruit salad of apricots with a little bit of pineapple mixed in. The zingy bubbles “sting” your tongue and prepare the palate for another bite of food. Fairly lean for a Moscato d’Asti; the wine has a lively acidity, with a bit of tanginess on the palate.

Poderi Roccanera Moscato d’Asti. Another highly aromatic, brightly acidic wine with ripe apricot and honey notes, and a delightfully creamy mousse. While most Moscato d’Asti is stoppered with a regular cork (not a sparkling wine cork with a wire cage), this one is a screwtop.

Ghione Anna Piccole Gioie Moscato d’Asti. More golden in color, but with a similar style as the two above, with tiny, zingy bubbles, refreshing acidity and lots of apricot and peach aromas and flavors, albeit in the more subtle way.

Scagliola Giacomo e Figlio SiFaSol Moscato d’Asti Canelli. Moscato d’Asti was first produced in the town of Canelli centuries ago and the area is considered one of the best for growing Moscato grapes. Like the others, this wine is full of apricot and tropical fruit notes, but with a slight hint of toastiness on the finish. A slightly dryer style with bigger bubbles that dissipated more quickly than the others.

Teresa Soria Moscato d’Asti Vigna Moncucco. When you smell this wine, you’ll notice scents of apricot, green apple and herbs, such as sage; when you taste it, the balance between the sweet component and the acid one is what stands out, and gives the wine a lot of finesse.