White Muscat Grape

Vitis moschata alba, White Muscat Grape

In the mid-19th century, Poiteau declared it “the best of grapes,” while amusedly noting that in Parisian markets, Chasselas overshadowed it. This paradox reveals the delicacy of the White Muscat: grown espaliered, exposed to full sun in the vicinity of Paris to achieve its ripeness, it demands patience and expertise. In the South of France, however, it thrives in open fields and gives rise to the famous Muscat wine, which Poiteau deferentially compares to the Tenedos Muscat praised by Tournefort.

The White Muscat cluster is recognized by its narrow, often conical shape, measuring 135 to 217 millimeters long. Its numerous and very tight berries, rounded and slightly elongated by pressure, reach 18 to 25 millimeters in diameter.

The skin, firm and crisp, displays a yellowish-green hue turning amber on the sun-exposed side, sometimes dotted with reddish spots, a distinctive sign of superior quality.

The flesh, intensely musky, is less melting than that of the Chasselas. Three or four small, white seeds, mottled with gray mixed with violet, complete the portrait of this exceptional grape.

The foliage, slightly more incised and greener than that of the Chasselas, bears sharper teeth, a subtle characteristic that distinguishes the vine at first glance.

This plate is taken from Pierre-Antoine Poiteau and Pierre Jean François Turpin's Traité des Arbres Fruitiers (Treatise on Fruit Trees), a botanical encyclopedia published between 1807 and 1835, a major reference in 19th-century naturalistic illustration.

It combines the rigor of scientific drawing with a rare artistic sensibility, characteristic of the great plates from the golden age of illustrated botany.