Muscadine varieties for wine

[franc1969]

Can anyone weigh in with Muscadine varieties they like for wine? I had them on my to-try list, and finally got some this week. I am sold, they taste terrific! Great for fresh eating , we'll see about how jam/jelly tastes. I am waiting to hear back about the exact variety I got, they were just labeled as 'purple' from Paulk Vineyards in Georgia. Very helpful, of course.
I have previously had what was generically labeled as scuppernong wine, and was not at all impressed. It was way too sweet, and had an aftertaste that was metallic and somewhat bitter, but likely more about sorbate than the grapes. So I am somewhat wary of what little Muscadine wine is produced commercially, but I have a few to search out. I'd like to get a vine or two that could be multipurpose for wine, jelly, or fresh. Tell me what you like. I am planting Brianna, Lorelai, Steuben, Norton as trials of other grapes.

 

[Ssjaynuff]

I know a guy who makes the best wine i have tasted and it is noble muscadine his carlos is good too

 

[The Dutchman]

yes agree on the noble and carlos muscadine. they are the best for wine in my opinion.

 

[efBobby]

I have not tried them but there are more options since they finally cracked the seedless muscadine.

I’d be curious how some of those varieties taste since they are ridiculously productive with grapes the size of golf balls.

Even if they didn’t make a great single varietal they could be used for a blend. There are other varieties available but ‘oh my’ or ‘oh mi’ I can’t remember the spelling comes to mind but there are more now.

 

[Mead Maker]

Muscadines makes a rather sweet wine that is fine for blending.

The problem is that they are rather difficult to crush because the pulp inside is like a soft rubber.

I freeze them solid, let them thaw a little, then start crushing. You end up with a tasty mush similar to a Slushy.

When it thaws add water to bring down the sugar content to about 25 percent.

 

[franc1969]

There are people on GrowingFruit who have this one 'OhMy'. Sounds ok, but generally prefer dark fruit. Some are having issues telling when it is ripe. I have had wine from the bronze muscadines before, but was not impressed. One was labeled as 'Scuppernong' but could be wrong, another no variety. Both had an odd aftertaste and were very sweet. Aftertaste could have been sorbate related, or I have been told that bronze have more bitter in the skin.
'Noble' 'Cowart' and 'Carlos' seem to be the most mentioned wine varieties, but I don't know if other work out as well, that's why I asked.

The berries were a bit chunky/rubbery before longer cooking. I imagine that freezing would be better before winemaking. The ones I froze to eat cracked their skins and broke down flesh quite nicely.

 

[Ssjaynuff]

I have also heard Southern Home is a good one. I planted a vine 2 years ago. Should get a harvest next to try. We will see.

 

[Ssjaynuff]

That was next year

 

[robert81650]

I have about 80 vines down here in Alabama and the best ones for wine is Carlos and Noble. I have some of the eating kind too, but I make wine out of those also. Not quite as good, but pretty darn good, I go for sweet wine anyway so the sugar content don't bother me.

 

[pproctorga]

For scuppernongs my favorite is Pam. I have several other varieties: Fry, Darlene, etc that aren't nearly as good in my small vineyard. It's a heavy producer and I love the taste. For the black muscadines I have Ison's and Nobles. Ison's is a good producer and has good flavor. The Noble isn't old enough to produce its own wine yet, but the grapes are smaller than Ison's. The problem with all muscadines is getting the sugar content up. These varieties are supposed to approach 20% but this year I was running more like 16% with all the rain. You'll have to add sugar in any year.

 

[robert81650]

That's true...........I always have to add sugar. Content is usually around Sp. Gr. of 1.05 and I raise it up to 1.090 to get alcohol content where it needs to be. I add some ingredients to it to bring our the red color and also on whites I add another ingredient to it to help bring our to flavor. I have tried several yeasts and not decided which one I like best.