Country wine beginner

[Lherring81]

Growing up, the old timers in my area always made homemade wine. Mostly scuppernong grape and apple pie. I want to do the same thing but know nothing. Do the old timers use all,the tablets and additives out all speak of? I want it to be safe and sweet. What are your suggestions for me? Where can you buy yeast and other additives readily?

 

[jamesngalveston]

scuppernog is and old old wine made from what they called scuppernogs...are as we call today mucadines are close to it.
I doubt the old timers used anything but sugar, let the muscadines ferment on there own, etc...
I made some the old way this year, it was not very good, and ended up at about 6 percent abv.
I read everything i could get my hands own for about 2 mos before i attempted my first wine, and books are confusing with double meanings and etc....But it gave me great insight and I knew what was what.
My first batch, even folllowing a recipe i was lost...
Found this forum, that was almost 200 gallons ago.I would suggest reading some before you start.
By the way. Muscadine wine made the correct way is a treaseure, expecially a port.

 

[Lherring81]

Thanks. I figured the old timers just used sugar and grapes. I am still reading as much as possible. It's a lot to soak in!

 

[olusteebus]

I strongly suggest you look at the recipes section. I followed Jack Kellers recipe for Muscadine wine. IT worked well for me. He has a site that is very informative.

I am told that a scuppernong is just a white muscadine.

 

[Julie]

Lherring81, welcome to winemakingtalk.

olusteebus, you are correct, scuppernong is a white muscadine

 

[jamesngalveston]

this is perhaps the best article ever written about scuppers/muscadines.



http://www.caes.uga.edu/commodities.../2009 Field Day Muscadine Botany. Seminar.pdf

 

[JohnT]

One piece of advice..

Old timers did not access to the knowledge and materials that we have today. Forget about tradition and embrace the benefit of others that are actively making wine. Using Keller's recipe is a great way to start and a great way to get great results.

 

[olusteebus]

Since we are on the topic of muscadines, I have a question.

I am surrounded in my Florida place with wild muscadines. None come close to bearing fruit. I have heard that you can fertilize them and they will produce fruit. Anyone ever try to make a wild grape vine produce fruit.

 

[vernsgal]

One piece of advice..

Old timers did not access to the knowledge and materials that we have today. Forget about tradition and embrace the benefit of others that are actively making wine. Using Keller's recipe is a great way to start and a great way to get great results.

I agree John. If old timers had what we have today I don't think for a moment they wouldn't have used what was available.
And Jack Keller's recipes is where I started

Welcome to WMT Lherring81

 

[StoneCreek]

Since we are on the topic of muscadines, I have a question.

I am surrounded in my Florida place with wild muscadines. None come close to bearing fruit. I have heard that you can fertilize them and they will produce fruit. Anyone ever try to make a wild grape vine produce fruit.

Olustee - I wouldn't bother. This is taken from one of my favorite foraging (one of my passions) websites. It was written by Green Deane who lives in central FL. The full article (posted below) is well worth reading which explains alot about the true muscadine and the escaped hybrids we have here in the south and also why we can't grow Grapes.

"One question I hear often is why aren’t the native grapes producing? They always seem not to have grapes. There are two answers: One is 90% of the vines have male flowers and all they do is basically lie around drinking sun all the time producing nothing except a little pollen. And the gals? They fruit sporadically. However, the so-called non-native escaped cultivars produce almost every year."

Here's the article - http://www.eattheweeds.com/vitis-wild-grapes-2/

Concerning the oldtimers way of making muscadine wine, they usually filled 1.5 and 1 gal jugs with muscadine juice, water and sugar then buried them for months to a year and drank what they dug up. Personally, I have a friend who made this "wine" following his grandfathers instructions and it did not turn out well. I wouldn't drink it. Way too easy to make a safe wine nowadays.

 

[dwhite53]

Lherring,

Duplin Cellars in Duplin county makes a muscadine wine. You might want to pick up a bottle. It seems to be readily available, even in regular grocery stores. Personally, I don't like it. I find it has a taste of diesel fuel and it's too sweet for my taste.

Probably the easiest thing to do would be an apple wine with preservative free (no sorbate) apple juice. You could throw in a bag of frozen mixed fruit to flavor it. Might need a little sugar to get the SG up but should turn out a pretty good wine.

Welcome from Garner NC.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[jamesngalveston]

I agree with stone creek..on my property I have a fence row of trees with wild muscadine vines, and are loaded every year...on the other side of the road i have all kinds of vines, yet not one fruit.....males on one side females on the other, kinda like m/f bathrooms...same species diffrent gender..lol