Muscat grapes thrive in Italy’s warm, Mediterranean climate. You’ll find them up and down the Boot from Piedmont and Trentino Alto-Adige to the southern islands of Sicily and Pantelleria.

Muscat of Alexandria and Muscat of Hamburg grapes, grown by Linda Apkarian of Apkarian Farms of Reedley, Calif., are for sale at the Moorpark farmers market. (David Karp / For The Times) 2 / 4.

As summer slides into autumn, apples, pears, even quinces (they’ll be here soon) and damsons take up residence in a cook’s head, but not the fruit that spells ‘harvest’ in so many countries. Perhaps ...

The flavor and scent of muscat grapes bring to mind spicy daphne with subtle, rich jasmine overtones. They are so unrivaled that I hesitate to find a taste comparison among edible subjects, which ...

Patrice Dreckmann of Rainbow Heights Farm & Nursery, who grows 50 varieties of muscat grapes and 43 varieties of figs south of Temecula.

First, some background on Muscat wine, which is made from a grape of the same name. As far as pronunciation, it has just about as many versions as it has clones.