"strong, sweet wine made from muscat grapes," 1530s, variant of muskadell (c. 1400), from Medieval Latin muscatellum, diminutive of muscat "(grape) with the fragrance of musk" (see muscat).
Entries linking to muscatel
muscat n.
type of strong and more or less sweet wine, 1570s, from French, from Italian moscato, literally "musky-flavored," from Vulgar Latin *muscatus, from Latin muscus "musk" (see musk). Earlier muscadine (1540s) and compare muscatel.