Just picked a couple of handfuls of Muscadines yesterday. After all of the fig picking and canning they are a pleasant change. Ned you picking yet?
I don’t know why more people don’t grow Muscadines because the only thing I do is pruning in late winter. No spraying just water and fertilize.
Karl

I made several gallons of muscadine wine last yr, but we didn't pick until early Sept.

Living in Colorado, I had never tasted muscadines before. Ned sent me a small box for me to taste. They were OK, but quite seedy. I thought they did not taste as good as actual grapes, nor did they have the quality of a grape. I grow an acre of mostly wine grapes, but also 5 varieties of table grapes. I understand that grapes cannot be grown in the SE because of disease problems. - Millet (1,281-)

Like many fruits (and other foods), muscadines are an acquired taste; plus it takes some practice to perfect the art of eating them. Many of those who remember them from childhood prefer them above all other types of grapes.

Ned

Ned’s right. We grew up with muscadines mostly picking wild varieties but these wild muscadines have all but disappeared. You can find muscadines once in a while at fruit markets but they are very expensive.
I am only picking a few a day, which makes a walk through the orchard especially rewarding. Only the Cowart and Summit are producing a few now but I also grow Noble, Pam and Ison. The Summit is my favorite. Maybe I will try wine making this year but right now I don’t know how or have the equipment to do it.
Karl

It doesn't take much to make wine--a gallon jug with an airlock, and a hydrometer--some wine yeast--that's about it.

Skeeter, I've seen several posts along those lines and it sounds so intriguing... but if a know-nothing amateur like myself were to try it, would it be drinkable? There are so many dreck wines out in the world, I don't want to end up with more like that.

I don't like to waste food, so I might have to drink it anyway. Bleah!

The muscadine wine I made is not bad. It is not one of the best wines I have had or even made, but clearly drinkable without any feelings of repulsion. Muscadine wine can be pretty acidic, so it is often best to finish it with little sugar.

The only wine I have made that had much of a yuck factor was kumquat.

There is a forum that is great for beginners--lots of helpful people
http://www.winepress.us/forums/index.php?

Hmm, I might just have to try it. The one-gallon batch size sounds ideal for learning - one can try several variations and see what happens. Also it doesn't take up as much space as I thought would be required.

Wow, checking out winepress.us was very inspirational - the descriptions of dry blueberry and blackberry-jam wines caught my attention right off. Thanks for the pointer.

Yea, those jam wine sound so easy--especially for blackberry when you consider the "cost" of picking them. When I get room for a new batch, I will probably try it.

As for citrus wines, I love my hard lemonade--great way to preserve some of those tasty lemons for summer lemonade!

Thanks Skeet. There is a lot of information on the site that you recommended. I am thinking about using a 5-gallon water cooler bottle with a sink P-trap as an airlock. That should work if I can adapt it to the water bottle. The jelly made from muscadines is excellent and I also just freeze them in vacuum-sealed bags. When thawed out later they still taste good.
Karl

You can use frozen berries for wine--in fact I think it helps extract the flavor. I like to make my wines in cooler weather--it is not good to make wine at temps above low 80s.

As for an airlock, the commercial varieties are cheap--just a couple dollars, but there are many ways to make your own--I have used a loop in tubing with water in the loop--just be sure to sterilize.

Hey, Skeeter, you and a couple other forum winemakers have inspired me to try my hand at it! Not having any ripe citrus on hand, I decided to go ahead with a batch of blackberry jam wine. My equipment should arrive tomorrow, I can't wait!

On JoeReal's recommendation I'm going to use "idiot-proof" EC-1118 yeast.

I think winepress.us is a great site, tons of info, helpful people, and no detectable flaming. Thanks again.

You are welcome Fofoca, it is a nice forum and winemaking is a great way to preserve abundant crops of many different fruit. I enjoy the hobby and like most of what I have made--only one bad one so far was kumquat--and my nephew even liked that!