1988 Scuppernong
September 2007 – This wine was made from grapes that grew in my parents’ yard in northern Florida. Originally identified as Muscadine, since moving to NC, I discovered they were a variety of Scuppernong.
Ingredients
| Fruit | 30# Scuppernong grapes, 13 brix |
| Acid | 1 tsp acid blend |
| Tannin | 1/4 tsp powdered tannin |
| Pectic Enzyme | 1/2 tsp |
| Sulfite | 1/4 tsp K-meta |
| Yeast Nutrient | 2 tsp nutrient + 1/2 tsp energizer |
| Yeast | Red Star Epernay II |
Method
| Crushed | 09/24/1988 SG 1.054 |
| Pressed | 09/29/1988 SG 1.004 |
| 1# corn sugar added | 09/29/1988 SG 1.032 |
| Racked | 10/04/1988 SG 1.000 |
| Racked | 10/09/1988 SG 1.000 |
| Racked, Ravat pourback added | 04/08/1989 SG — |
| Bottled | 09/01/1989 SG — |
Notes
| Yield | 4 bottles |
| Alcohol | 11.1% |
| Afterthoughts | This was an experiment using grapes that grew in my parents’ yard in FL. This was my first indication that native southern grapes don’t make good wine. Years later I tried Muscadine, with similarly poor results. But to be fair, these grapes were not cultivated as wine grapes, so the lack of quality didn’t help things … and even a bit of left over Ravat pourback didn’t help it much. 🙂 |