Golden Scuppernong

[Ann B.]

Yup! I am amazed that this one lived. We pruned it drastically to try to reduce the weight on the damaged arbor. I watched as the first tiny leaves started to emerge, and now I am in awe.

I'm not sure how we are going to fix this twisted arbor. The posts are in cement well below the ground level. Katrina soaked the ground, the wind twisted the posts.

Yet, the vine still lives, and I am still quite amazed at that because of the damage, but I do believe it is going to be just fine.

My beautiful Scuppernong...

[Dazed_Lily]

What a coincidence ! We were at Wal-Mart yesterday or Sunday buying peaches and right next to them were Golden Scuppernong grapes. They sure look big and round. Kinda greenish/brownish or maybe reddish. Now I know what they come from. That vine (???!!!) is HUGE ! I wouldn't worry about an arobor; that vine/tree is well beyond any arbor or trellis !
How do the grapes taste in comparison to the little green ones(Thompson?) in the store ? Which actually have no taste when I think about it LOL!

[txbeyer]

Now if you guys could make wine from them, you'd have something. The only place I have ever found scuppernong wine was in Virginia a long time ago.

[Tom]

Bob, the only reason you can't find scuppernong, or other muscadine wines is, you haven't spent enough time in Alabama! It's not broadcast very widely, but it can be found in a LOT of places here (sometimes right here). It is best to leave it just a little bit sweet to overcome the natural sour taste. Once aged and cleared, it is a very pretty, full-bodied drink. As a matter of fact, it was a muscadine grower that finally got the state law changed to allow commercial wine production here.

There is really only one scuppernong, which is actually bronze colored when ripe, with a little rust here and there.

The true Golden Scuppernong is a wonderful, very tasty, sweet grape. When ripe it is quite large. There are many varieties of muscadines here in the state, and over the southeast. Unfortunately, there are about a dozen different Bronze ones, and like so many other plants with similar descriptions, they have all pretty much fallen into the scuppernong name space. The Golden Scuppernong is the least productive, but has the largest individual fruits of all. The vines are treated just like regular grapes in both trellis and pruning. They have a natural resistance to many of the molds and viruses that the imported grapes cannot tolerate.

They are very easy to propagate with dormant cuttings.

[Dazed_Lily]

I was back at Wal-Mart tonight for more peaches and the scuppernongs were still there. One of the containers was open and it was pretty evident that people had been sampling. So I filched one and took it home to wash it. Actually I forgot it in my handbag for about 2 hours while I raked and overseeded my lawn ! I just remenbered it and ate it now. My reaction was quote, "My...oh my..oh, oh my !" First of all it is big and round. Secondly the skin and inerds separate from each other when you chew it, so I found myself dealing with the very very thick skin and then the inerds. I can't describe the taste, but it does have an after taste and I suspect that it does make a very good wine. It was both sweet and tart(the skin was probably the tart part). The label on the container said 'bronze' and 'muscadine'. Based on what Tom said who knows what it was. I can't see myself sitting down to a heaping helping of these things. Aside from wine, I wonder what you would do with them.

[Tom]

OH, MY, how did I ever let you do that!

The scuppernong grape, like all other muskadines takes a separate knack to just eat them. First off, you place the grape between your front teeth, stem end first, and bite and squeeze at the same time. The skin will burst, and the pulp will separate. Then you can either abandon the skin, which is not edible, or squeeze the juice from it. The pulp contains a few bitter seeds, and should not be chewed, but rather separated, and spit out. You are right; they are not something one would just sit down to a quantity of to eat. Eating them gets to be a lot of work, but its not too bad for just a few.

In addition to wine, muskadines make a wonderful jelly. We use a steam juice extractor for all fruit, which yields some very clear juice. Otherwise the juice and jelly/wine will take on a distinct murky look. But the wine of course is cleared with aging and/or finings to clear it.

Check this site out before your next trip to the great southeast! Much more than you will ever want to know about our native grape.

http://southernfood.about.com/library/weekly/aa091998.htm

[Dazed_Lily]

Then you can either abandon the skin, which is not edible,

Well, I'm a clueless Yankee aren't I ? LOL! But now I'll be ready when I venture south !

I look forward to reading more about the scuppernongs. With a name like scuppernong it has to be good ! ;)