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Hanepoot is what South Africans call Muscat of Alexandria, and the name is a lot more fun than the grape’s formal title. It means “rooster’s foot” in Afrikaans, probably a mangling of an old Dutch word for honey-pot, and either way it tells you what to expect: something golden, sweet and unashamedly cheerful.
Muscat of Alexandria is one of the oldest grapes in the world, a table grape as much as a wine grape, and in the Cape it has been made into sweet fortified wine since the 1700s. A glass of chilled Hanepoot jerepigo at the end of a braai is a South African institution. Australians know the same grape as Gordo or Lexia, and the Rutherglen crowd know its little sibling as Brown Muscat.
Table of Contents
What Does Hanepoot Taste Like?
Fresh grape, honey, orange blossom, apricot and a little rose. The classic fortified style is lusciously sweet, thick and golden, with a warm spirit kick. Dry and off-dry table versions are lighter and more floral, and both carry that unmistakable “tastes like grapes” Muscat signature. Acidity is moderate; sweetness varies from a whisper to a flood.
| Aspect | Rating out of 5 | Characteristic |
|---|---|---|
| Sweetness | 🍷🍷🍷🍷 | Usually sweet, often very; dry versions exist |
| Body | 🍷🍷🍷 | Medium, richer in the fortified style |
| Tannins | – | None; it is all honey and blossom |
| Acidity | 🍷🍷🍷 | Moderate, keeping the sugar in check |
| Alcohol by Volume | 🍷🍷🍷🍷 | Around 12% for table wine, 16–18% when fortified |
Each wine glass icon is one point on a 5-point scale: one glass is low, five is high, based on the grape’s typical style.
Where It Grows
South Africa’s Western Cape, especially the warm inland regions of Worcester, Robertson and the Swartland, has grown Hanepoot for three centuries. As Muscat of Alexandria it is also huge in Spain, where it makes Moscatel sweet wines, in Sicily as Zibibbo, in Portugal’s Setúbal, and in Chile for pisco.
Australia grows a great deal of it too, as Muscat Gordo Blanco or Lexia, mostly in the Riverland and Riverina for Moscato, sweet blends and table grapes. The finer Rutherglen fortified Muscats use a different family member, Muscat à Petits Grains, but the two share the same honeyed, grapey soul.
How to Serve It
Temperature: 6–8°C. Sweet fortified Hanepoot is best cold, and South Africans often add a block of ice.
Glass: a small tulip or port glass for the fortified; a standard white glass for table styles. See the glasses roundup.
Decanting: no.
Ageing: fortified Hanepoot keeps for years unopened and weeks once open. Table versions are best young.
What to Eat With It
Dessert first: milk tart, malva pudding, koeksisters, tiramisu, fruit tarts and baked cheesecake. It also loves blue cheese, and the lighter styles suit spicy food, including tikka masala, where the sweetness tames the chilli. More in the pairing guides.
Celebrated Wine Labels
| Wine Label | Country | Style |
|---|---|---|
| Klein Constantia | South Africa | Vin de Constance, the legendary Muscat sweet wine |
| Boplaas | South Africa | Calitzdorp fortified specialists |
| De Bortoli | Australia | Riverina, home of Australian Muscat Gordo |
| Nederburg | South Africa | Classic Cape sweet wines |
| Quady Winery | USA | California Muscat specialists |
Drink One Tonight
Our partner shop has no South African Hanepoot, but it does have a proper Australian Moscato, which is the same Muscat family in its lightest, happiest form.
Saint Valentine Reserve Moscato 2024
The Muscat family at its most cheerful. If a true Cape Hanepoot or Rutherglen Muscat lands in stock, it joins this one.
- Real Muscat, grapey, floral and sweet, just like Hanepoot
- Light, fizzy and low in alcohol
- Dessert, fruit and spicy takeaway all work
- Around twenty dollars
- Light and frothy rather than thick and fortified; for the full Hanepoot experience you want a jerepigo
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hanepoot known by any other names?
Muscat of Alexandria is the formal name. It is Moscatel in Spain and Portugal, Zibibbo in Sicily, Muscat Gordo Blanco or Lexia in Australia, and Hanepoot only in South Africa.
To which wines is Hanepoot similar?
Moscato and other Muscats, obviously, and Rutherglen fortified Muscat for the sweet style. Sweet Riesling and Gewürztraminer share its floral perfume. Read our Muscat guide for the wider family.
What are some interesting facts about Hanepoot?
The grape has been grown at the Cape since the Dutch East India Company era in the 1600s. The famous Vin de Constance that Napoleon drank in exile was made from it. And “hanepoot” is thought to be a corruption of “honingpot”, Dutch for honey-pot, before it drifted into “rooster’s foot”.
Is Hanepoot a red or white wine?
White, or more accurately golden. Muscat of Alexandria is a green-skinned grape, and the wine ranges from pale straw to deep amber depending on sweetness and age.
Which country produces the most Hanepoot?
As Muscat of Alexandria, Spain has the most vines, followed by Chile, Italy and Australia. South Africa is the only country that calls it Hanepoot, and it grows a substantial amount.
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