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. 🙂