I discovered Moscato on a boat. I was on a holistic medicine cruise with my lovely friend Christine and she offered to buy me a glass of wine. I hadn’t tried Moscato before, so I decided to take a chance. It was fantastic. Sweet, bursting with fruit flavours and just crisp enough not to be cloying. What better wine for a cruise around the city?

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to ask the bartender which Moscato he was serving, so I decided to hit the LCBO in search of one I’d like as much. My first choice, the Pelee Island Moscato was good, but not quite what I’d remembered. My second, Jacob’s Creek Moscato, was excellent (and likely what I’d had on the boat), but I try to drink Ontario wine whenever possible so I kept looking for a VQA option that fit the bill. I found one with House Wine Co.’s ’11 Vidal Moscato.

From the Speck Bros. (the brothers behind Henry of Pelham), House Wine Co.’s premise is wine made simple. And this is – it’s simply delicious. It’s quite sweet (off-dry), so probably not for everyone, but I found it to be a great option for hot summer evenings. This is a fun, fruity sipper and well worth checking out.

Interesting fact – when researching Moscato I discovered that it’s recently become increasingly popular with the hip hop community – earning a name check in a song or two. The New York Post even ran an article declaring that Moscato is the new Cristal. Who knew?