# Muscadine Wine



## Waldo

My recipe for this 5 gallonbatch was:


22.7 Lbs Muscadines (Frozen) Thesewere a hybrid variety of Muscadine called Black Beauty 


12 Lbs. Sugar


5 Tsp. Yeast Nutrient


5 Campden Tablets


3 TSp Pectic Enzyme


Water to 5 Gallon


Lalvin 71B 1122 Yeast


2oz Medium Toast French Oak chips


Began by processing my Muscadines ( good double handful per bag) in gallon size zip loc bags, extracting all them good juices with a rolling pin. 















They produced almost 1 gallon of pure Muscadine nectar.








Boiled water and dissolved sugar in it, letting it cool while the Muscadines were being processed.








Put Muscadines in strainer bag. Placed in primary fermenter 





and added dissolved campden tablets and yeast nutrient to extracted juice from muscadines and added this to primary along with sugar water. Stirred well, added oak chipsand let it set for 18 hours. I then added the Pectc Enzyme. Stirred well again and let set for another 12 hours.








Made a starter by rehydrating yeast in 1/2 cup warm water and pitched to primaryat an SG of 1.094 and a must temperature of 74 degrees.








Fermentation going good 6 hours after yeast pitched








Stirred must twice daily, massaging strainer bag to extract them good juices.


I am getting close to being ready to transfer to secondary at SG of 1.016 when I had an "oops". I was squeezing the juices from strainer bag when it split open on me. I am now finishing off my primary fermentation the old fashioned way. 








Continued to punch down must twice daily and transferred wine to secondary at an SG of 1.010. The wine has taken on a pinkish hue and was a challenge getting it to secondary as the wine was full of pulp. Ended up pouring it from primary to secondary through funnel with strainer.








Will update as progress continues*Edited by: Waldo *


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## bilbo-in-maine

Whew! It was the gentle kind of oops. Now you have a chance to hone 
your old fashioned skills.





TA tested? The recipe includes no tartaric acid, so are the berries plenty 
acidic naturally? Boy, that's a pretty color to start with. This is your 
second batch isn't it?


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## masta

Well Waldo looks like you found it.....I will be adding this one and others that have not been done yet to the read only post soon.


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## MedPretzel

I'll add the recipe in the website for ya, since i have tasted the previous muscadine of yours!! Mmmmm MMmmmm good. Will be a 1st place winner, I'm sure!


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## Waldo

Bilbo....did not test TA other than with my taste buds. i have a Vinometer kit but have not figured out how to use it correctly yet. I added none on my first batch either.


Masta. thsi is not the recipe i was looking for but it is pretty close


Martina...Thanks, hope this batch will be as good


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## smurfe

Looks good Waldo, So will this be a dry or a sweet Muscadine Wine? A gal at work gave me a bottle her Dad made a while back, it was way way sweet, even sweeter than my Mead I had made. It would of killed a diabetic. Was funny, I gave them a bottle of White Zin I had made and he didn't like it, said it was way too dry a wine for him to drink LOL. It is too sweet for me, the wife likes it though.


I am thinking of planting some Muscadines as they are pretty well the only grape that will grow around here that is disease resistant. Really want to plant some Norton/Cynthiana's as well. I have heard good things about them growing around here and they make some very fine dry wine. 


I am gonna see if I can scrounge up some Muscadines though and try this recipe of yours.


Smurfe


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## Waldo

Thanks Smurfe, I am fermenting my Muscadine to dry and then sweeting just a tad before bottling.


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## pkcook

Looks good Waldo. It is sure throwing off the sediment! What will you top up with when you rack?


Pat


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## Waldo

On Feb. 3rd. I racked the Muscadine and stabalized it at SG 0f .990 which should give me a PA of around 13.6%











This picture was taken yesterday and it is clearing nicely. I drew a sample for taste testing and



. Its going to be another good one. 


May be just a tad shy on the acidity but the muscadine flavor has actually gotten better since the last racking. I would anticipate this one being ready to bottle about the time of the get together if we have it in April.


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## rgecaprock

Waldo,


I find that the color of the wine is as appealing as the wine itself. That is such a beautiful color. 


How much wine do you have bottled by now.......must be quite alot.


Ramona


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## Waldo

I think somewhere around 140 bottles that I have left Ramona. Have given away several cases though. I seem to be getting a lot of repeat customers too


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## rgecaprock

WELL, WALDO,


REPEAT CUSTOMERS SAY ALOT!!!!!! YOU HAVE DONE REALLY WELL!!!


RAMONA


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## Waldo

Thanks Ramona......My success is indebted to all the great people on this forum


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## Danny

How did your Muscadine turn out, Waldo? Thinking about planting some Muscadine vines in my side yard next spring. Our local winery makes an excellent Muscadine wine.


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## Waldo

It turned out great Danny. Has some aging to do to be at its best. I can hardly wait for the Muscadines to ripen this year. 


So who is your local Winery?


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## ScubaDon

Hi Waldo,


I am new to the forum and reading everything I can find. Just read this posting about your Muscadine wine. I love Muscadines and it's wine would love to make a batch. I would like to ask you acouple of questions. During the primary phase did you leave the lid off the entire time, cover it with a cloth or justplaced the lid on and off every timeyou stirred it? #2 how long before bottling, it seems like this took about 4 months? #3 how longafter bottling until it was ready?Why does it seem to take so long?
Thanks,
Don


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## Waldo

Hey Don.......Lets take these in succession:
During primary fermentation I just place the lid on the fermenter loosely. I punch down the strainer bag and stir the must gently twice daily.
Each batch is different in the amount of time it takes to clear enough to bottle but a good rule of thumb would be around 3 months. The wine is usually very drinkable at bottling but as with other wines it will improve tremendously with age. Sadly I haveyet to be able to age any of my Muscadine past about 6 months. Its all gone by then. I keep saying I will let a batch age in the carboy for a year before bottlingbut thus far I have not had the discipline to accomplish this. You will find from experience that most Country wines take longer to come into their best than do the kit wines. Good luck on making a Muscadine and I will be here for any questions you might have.


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## NorthernWinos

Waldo....sounds like you need to join a Wine Aging Support Group....I know that I sure should.....

I am trying to age some wine...did like Joan did.....I have put 1 case [12 bottles] each of the last 3 batches of wine I made, taped the boxes shut and shoved them under the benches....

Also took 12 bottles of 2 older batches and boxed them up too...they are sweet wines and I consider them cooking wines...unless they really change with some age on them.

I have 4 batches going right now and when they are ready I am going to box up a 12 bottle case of each as well....this also is giving us more wine rack space....so I will just keep making batches of wine till all my juices are gone....then comes the hard part....deciding when to start opening those boxes....6 months...one year...or when we need more...

Last year when I couldn't drink wine for 8 months it sure gave the wines some time to develop...they changed with age...[just like we do...got better]

Think we need to start a Wine Aging Support Group on this Forum...then we can help each other...


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## Waldo

You get it going NW and I will join


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## cowgirlallison

Hi Waldo...in response to the muscadine recipe you asked me about from the fruit flies discussion board...I used approx 22# of muscadines (picked right from my very own wild vine!) 9lbs of sugar, 5tsp nutirent, 3/4tsp pectic enzyme, 1tsp wine tanin 5 campden tabs, and EC-1118 yeast
It was a recipe from E.C.Kraus's wine catalog
I am about to put on another batch soon so if you have any suggestions please feel free to let me know what you or anyone else thinks. I am just wingin' it!


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## NorthernWinos

I know nothing about mecadines...but find them interesting.





Muscadine
At home in the humidity of Florida, you yield more fruit than the Miami Gay Pride parade. Yes, you are quite an original; in fact, you are the original. Your family, Vitis Rotundifolia, were the first native Americans to yield wine. And the family name 'Rotunda-fullia' is so appropriate, with your plump clusters of fruit bearing greater resemblance to small apples than grape berries.
MUSCADINE GRAPE DETAILS

(Scuppernong) Known as the original American wine, Scuppernong is a high-yielding, sub-tropical grape grown in Florida, Texas, North Carolina, and other southern states. The grape belongs to the sub-genus Muscadine, not the sub-genus Euvites, to which labrusca, vinifera, riparia and rupestris belong. Scuppernong is a very unsual grape. It grows in clusters, rather than in bunches, and its fruit resemble small plums, more so than grapes. A single vine can envelop more than an acre, and supply over a ton of fruit. It produces very distinctive, perfume-laden wines. Generally made sweet, they were once blended with Concord and Catawba, to make Virginia Dare, the most popular U.S. wine before Prohibition. Bunch varietals are very susceptible to disease and mildew in the humid southern states


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## Waldo

cowgirlallison said:


> Hi Waldo...in response to the muscadine recipe you asked me about from the fruit flies discussion board...I used approx 22# of muscadines (picked right from my very own wild vine!) 9lbs of sugar, 5tsp nutirent, 3/4tsp pectic enzyme, 1tsp wine tanin 5 campden tabs, and EC-1118 yeast
> It was a recipe from E.C.Kraus's wine catalog
> I am about to put on another batch soon so if you have any suggestions please feel free to let me know what you or anyone else thinks. I am just wingin' it!




I think the only thing I would possibly change cowgirlallison is the yeast. Try a Montachret in a batch and see how you like it.


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## Waldo

Northern Winos said:


> I know nothing about mecadines...but find them interesting.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Muscadine
> At home in the humidity of Florida, you yield more fruit than the Miami Gay Pride parade. Yes, you are quite an original; in fact, you are the original. Your family, Vitis Rotundifolia, were the first native Americans to yield wine. And the family name 'Rotunda-fullia' is so appropriate, with your plump clusters of fruit bearing greater resemblance to small apples than grape berries.
> MUSCADINE GRAPE DETAILS
> 
> (Scuppernong) Known as the original American wine, Scuppernong is a high-yielding, sub-tropical grape grown in Florida, Texas, North Carolina, and other southern states. The grape belongs to the sub-genus Muscadine, not the sub-genus Euvites, to which labrusca, vinifera, riparia and rupestris belong. Scuppernong is a very unsual grape. It grows in clusters, rather than in bunches, and its fruit resemble small plums, more so than grapes. A single vine can envelop more than an acre, and supply over a ton of fruit. It produces very distinctive, perfume-laden wines. Generally made sweet, they were once blended with Concord and Catawba, to make Virginia Dare, the most popular U.S. wine before Prohibition. Bunch varietals are very susceptible to disease and mildew in the humid southern states
> 
> 
> 
> Ever heard of the Mother Vine NW
> 
> 
> http://www.themothervine.com/history.php


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## Danny

Had never heard of muscadines till reading of them on this website. Planted 4 plants in my side yard 3 years ago and this year will have a bumper crop for the first time. Have to bone up now on recipes/techniques prior to making sometime in the fall.


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## Wade E

I love that wine and wish it would grow up here!


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## SIXFOOTER

I just got 8 gallons of fresh muscadines. They are pretty ripe and I froze them in 1 gallon zip lock bags. 
The plan is to thaw them, pick out all the stems and get the must started. After that I am kind of lost. I recon I need to order some yeast, nutrient and whatever other chemicals and additives are needed. I have equipment from beer making and understand that process.
Couple of questions:
How much wine will this make?
I am thinking of a red, dry wine, what oak to get?
What yeast?
What else?


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## ASAI

Interesting reference above about the Mother Vine. (Link still works; thought to be the oldest grape vine in North America).
I recently saw several news stories about the Mother Vine getting sparyed with herbicide. Depending on the version, it had started to climb the power lines and was fair game for the contractor; or, the contractor was a little over zealous in spraying to stunt next years growth.


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## Mixer

Hey waldo, why did you add water? Why didn't you get enough muscadines to make the entire batch with 100% juice?


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## smurfe

Mixer said:


> Hey waldo, why did you add water? Why didn't you get enough muscadines to make the entire batch with 100% juice?



Mixer, it is more to adjust the acidity. Muscadine is VERY acidic. When I make it I test the acidity and adjust with water if I don't have any Calcium Carbonate. Dilution with water will dilute the flavor some. 

Another reason to add water is to adjust the Specific Gravity if it is too high. It is best to have a balanced wine and too high an SG will result in a too high alcohol wine which will distract the flavors with hot fusol alcohols. I shoot for an SG of 1.085-1.090 for a muscadine. 

Another reason is as stated, to reach desired levels. One last thing to add is you get better color extraction from the skins when you pour a bit of near boiling water over the fruit/skins when you add them to primary.


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## Waldo

I believe you handled that answerreal well smurfe


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## cheesegrits

Boy am I glad I found this website! In just two days I have learned so much that I am confident I can make my own muscadine wine. At least I'm going to give it a good try!
I live outside Atlanta and with the rain this year and us taking better care of our 35 year old vines, we have more muscadines and scuppernongs than I have seen in a long time! I have never tried to make wine but I think I can make it work. I pulled about 12 lbs yesterday and washed them and froze them last night. I should have enough ripe by next week. One question I have is just how ripe do they need to be? Should the skins be soft or still hard? Of course I am a total newbie at this so I will be asking a lot of really basic dumb questions. I look forward to the answers that I know will be coming! This is what my vines are looking like.


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## Waldo

I would not pick them until they are fully ripened


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## cheesegrits

Thanks for the reply Waldo! I have been pulling them as they ripen. I went back yesterday and got another 10 lbs. I am up to about 20 lbs total so far and that is all muscadines. They are washed and frozen. The scuppernongs are just starting to turn golden. Even though I've pulled that many you can't tell I have pulled any at all. Here are a couple of pics of the biggest ones from yesterday.
Yes, 11 of them side to side are over a foot long.






Some of them are just huge and there are a lot more coming!


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## Waldo

Read this article cheese
http://msucares.com/crops/comhort/small_varieties2.html


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## cheesegrits

Thanks again Waldo! How in the world can you tell what variety I have? On my bronze vines I have at least 4 different types. Some are small and really sweet, some are huge a much less intense color than the small ones. Most of these vines are about 35 to 40 years old and I have no clue what was originally put in. All I know is I am having fun learning from you guys! I measured yesterday and have about 1500 feet of vines.


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## Waldo

I really cant tell you an answer for determinging which variety you have but I can tell you from experience that the smaller , really black ones willmake the best wines and the larger varieties are best left for making jellies and pies


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## cheesegrits

So I had some life stuff come up and a new job. Now I have started my muscadines. My son who is 12 and I had a great time crushing them on Saturday! I ended up crushing 36 lbs and added the campden when I got the SG to 1.100. It is a 6 gallon batch since that is the only carboy and fermenter I could borrow. Threw the yeast tonight and hope to see some action in the morning! The color is looking really good! Soooo what do ya think? Man do I love this forum, I have learned so much since joining!


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## Waldo

Try and keep your temp during fermentation around 72-74 degrees and punch that bag down twice a day. Play it a little music and"let er bump". Them Muscadines, in the early stage of fermentation do well on some Pink Floyd or Jimi Hendrix


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## cheesegrits

This seemed to work really well!





[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwhVqDGyr4M&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwhVqDGyr4M&feature=related[/ame]


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## Waldo

Wouldn't let me listen to it cheese..something about copyrited


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## Bartman

That's an obscure '80s music reference. I'm surprised your muscadines would recognize it...'course, if they are 40 years old, they were teenagers at the time, so maybe they are familiar with Roxette's musical genius ??!!


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## pg55

A question on backsweeting the muscidine wine. If you want it semisweet how much sugar do you add per gallon?


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## Julie

One cup of sugar will raise sg .018. I would do 1/2 cup per gallon and then taste once you get the sweetness that you like, take a hydrometer reading so you that as a reference


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