noun

muscatel

mus-kuh-TEL/ˌmʌskəˈtel/

A sweet wine made from muscat grapes.

The golden muscatel stands beside grapes and a slice of almond cake.

Muscatel presented as a sweet grape wine in a compact dessert-service still life: a small glass of golden-amber wine beside ripe muscat grapes and a modest slice of almond cake.

Etymology

The name is a diminutive of a term for grapes with a musk-like fragrance. The sweet wine thus takes its name from the aromatic grapes used to make it.

In context

KnowWineInNoTime1:16

muscatel at that time was a fortified sweet wine so what exactly is a fortified sweet wine think of something like a port

Moscatel, It's Not What You Think - Know Wine In No Time

More examples

This muscatel tastes sweet and smells faintly of flowers.
We pour a little muscatel over the sliced peaches.
He prefers muscatel to dry wine.

Forms

muscatel · muscatels

Similar words

muscat: Broader wine term covering both dry and sweet styles.
moscato: Another muscat-based wine, often lighter and sometimes sparkling.