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Viticultural & vinification not		Winemakers comments
Vintage conditions	A great vintage for early ripening varieties with moderate consistent temperatures.	Colour   Nose         Palate	Light pink with a salmon tinge.   Typical muscat varietal characters of flowers and musk stick are evident with a hint of Turkish delight. The wine has a perfume like intensity unmatched by other varieties.   Luxurious sweetness matched by intense flavours of flowers and musk stick. The palate is soft and delicate with vibrant fruit, refreshing crisp acidity and an attractive spritz.
Vineyard	Three Hills Hand pruned to rods Hand picked
Grape variety	Brown Muscat (Muscat a Petit Grains rouge)
Maturation	In stainless steel and bottle. Bottled within the year and matured under screw cap.
Wine analysis	Alc/Vol:            9.5% Acidity:             5.7 g/l pH:                   3.23 Residual Sugar: 3.6

Muscat a Pink is a table wine style that might be called a Fuchsia derivative. This is a fresh and very fruity style. It is unabashedly sweet with a pronounced spritz that lifts the aromatics off the tongue. If ever there was a fruit bomb, here it is.

In Karridale sugar contents are not usually as high as realised in Dunsborough, the fruit is less raisined, the acidity fresher and the aromatics more vibrant.

Those who have visited Happs over many years will remember a wine called Topaz that was made from this grape grown in the north and also a precedent for this wine.

Serve with a fruit salad at breakfast to set a celebratory mood for the day. If you must wait for lunch the suggested match is smoked salmon. If you are forced to wait even longer serve with oysters and sushi as an aperitif. Alternatively, serve with a peach soufflé for desert.

James Halliday: Pale salmon-pink; made from muscat a petit grain, and a real wine, the delicate strawberry/grapey fruit balanced by just the right amount of acidity. Screwcap. 10.5% alc. Rating 89 Drink 2010 $22 Date Tasted Jan 10

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Awards History Click here

The variety 'Muscat a petit grains', or simply 'Brown Muscat' as it is known in Australia, is quite different to the 'Muscat of Alexandria' or 'Gordo' that is grown in many a back garden across the country.  The latter requires a very long season to reach maturity and produces wines of rather less distinction. Muscat a Petit Grains or ‘Brown Muscat’, as it is known in Australia ripens early and, if left to hang on the vine, produces grapes of unsurpassed concentration, flavour and aroma. Dr. John Gladstones, the ‘father of the Margaret River appellation’ suggested that Brown Muscat should be tried in the country round Busselton.

Muscat is one of the most attractive eating grapes in the vineyard. There are many, many varieties of grape that carry muscat genes. The vine character and ripening times are diverse. The particular variety called in France 'Muscat a petit grains Rouge’, or Muscat with the small red berries ripens early. It is a hot favourite with the vineyard workers. In Australia it is called rather more prosaically 'Brown Muscat'. In Rutherglen, Victoria it has long been used to make fortified wines that age for ever. These wines have for a long time been revered by Australian winemakers as great examples of their art.

The wines that we make from this grape today are poles apart from earlier fortified styles. Margaret River Muscat is fresher in flavour and is a vibrant drink.