How do you make scupernong wine or muskadine wine? I know you need a jar, sugar and time?

This is a sweet wine my Mom used to make for Christmas time. We were allowed only so much, but no one ever wanted to go any where after a good meal and a little wine.|||SCUPPERNONG GRAPE WINE (19th Century Recipe)





3-4 gallons Scuppernong Grapes


3 lbs sugar





# Remove grapes from stems and wash.


# Mash them as best you can and press hard.


# Let juice and hulls stand 48 hours.


# Drain well to extract all juice.


# To one gallon of juice add three pounds sugar and stir well.


# Transfer to fermenting jar and tie linen over jar.


# Let stand several weeks, ladle into bottles and apply corks.


# Let it lie a month or two before drinking.





SCUPPERNONG GRAPE WINE (Folk Recipe)





4-6 gallons Scuppernong Grapes


4-8 lbs sugar





# Gather ripe grapes. Remove from stems and wash.


# Put washed grapes in clean tub and use a seasoned but clean fence post to mash grapes by dropping upright post into tub.


# Do not pound grapes or you'll break seeds and ruin the juice.


# Cover the tub with clean flannel for three days, stirring the mashed grapes with wooden paddle 2-3 times a day.


# Put mashed grapes in a clean flour sack and lay this on a clean scrubboard angled about 45 degrees.


# Press palms on sack to press out juice, working from top to bottom several times.


# Depending on your strength, you should get 1 1/2 to 3 gallons of juice.


# Add sugar slowly, stirring with paddle to dissolve it.


# After each stirring, test an egg in the juice. When it floats to the top, stop adding sugar.


# Put into jugs and plug holes firmly with tightly rolled cloth strips so nothing can get in.


# There should be 2 inches between top of juice and cloth stopper. If you have any extra juice, save in a soda bottle, also stoppered with cloth, for later.


# Juice will ferment 2-4 weeks. When fermenting stops, wait another two weeks and pour through clean flannel into clean jugs.


# Use water or strained saved juice to fill jugs.


# Cork tightly and set in cool dark place.


# Should be ready by Thanksgiving.





Muscadine Grapes





The common Muscadine Grape, botanically any one of a number of varieties of Vitis Rotundifolia, grows wild throughout the southeast United States, from Louisiana and Arkansas to the Atlantic. It looks very similar to the Mustang Grape and a dozen other wild southern grapes, but--like the Vitis Munsoniana--it has simple (not forked) tendrils. Muscadines are terrific climbers and reach up high into trees, cover brush and run along fences, growing up to 50 feet per year. The grapes themselves form in small bunches, are extremely acidic and tend to drop from the vine as they reach maturity. They require lots of sugar and positive acid reduction measures to make a decent wine. Like the Mustang, the Muscadine is wonderful for jelly but not the best wine grape. However, it's readily available and free to boot, so it certainly has advantages over purchased grapes. For best flavor, be prepared to allow it to age 3 or 4 years. Lots of people drink it young and think nothing of it, but if they'd only stash away a couple of bottles for 3-4 years, they'd never drink it young again.





One other precautionary warning. The high acidity in Muscadines can cause severe skin irritation until the acidity is corrected. For that reason, wear rubber gloves when picking, handling and squeezing these wild grapes. It will make the whole experience much more enjoyable.





I believe you could also use a Scuppernong recipe with your Muscadine grapes also.





MUSCADINE GRAPE WINE #1





# 6 lbs ripe Muscadine Grapes


# 2-1/4 lbs granulated sugar


# 3 qts water


# 1 tsp pectic enzyme


# 1 tsp yeast nutrient


# 1 crushed Campden tablet


# 1 packet Montrachet wine yeast





Boil the water and dissolve the sugar in it. While sugar-water is cooling, wash, de-stem and crush the grapes, being sure to wear rubber gloves. Pour crushed grapes into nylon straining bag, tie securely, and put in primary. Pour water over grapes, add crushed Campden tablet and yeast nutrient, and cover primary securely. After 12 hours add pectic enzyme. Wait additional 12 hours and measure both specific gravity and acid. S.G. should be 1.100 to 1.103; acidity no higher than 7 p.p.t. tartaric. Correct S.G. if required by adding additional sugar, acid by using one of three methods described below following recipes, if required. Add yeast, re-cover primary, and squeeze nylon bag lightly and stir must twice daily for about 6-7 days or until S.G. drops to 1.030. Press pulp well to extract liquid. Pour into secondary fermentation vessel, fit airlock, and let stand 3 weeks. Rack and top up, then rack again in 2 months and again after additional 2 months. If wine has cleared, bottle. If not, wait until wine clears, rack again and bottle. This wine may be sweetened before bottling by stabilizing, waiting 10-12 hours, then adding 2/3 to 1-1/3 cup sugar-water per gallon (2 parts sugar dissolved in 1 part water. May taste after one year, but improves remarkably with age (2-4 years).





MUSCADINE GRAPE WINE #2





# 6-8 lbs Muscadine Grapes


# 2-1/2 lbs granulated sugar


# 3 qts water


# 1 tsp pectic enzyme


# 1 tsp yeast nutrient


# 1 crushed Campden tablet


# 1 packet Montrachet wine yeast





Wash and destem the grapes, being sure to wear rubber gloves. Run grapes through a grape crusher or crush in crock primary using a sterilized 4X4 or other suitable device in an up-and-down action. Meanwhile, bring water to boil. Add sugar to grapes and pour boiling water over grapes and sugar. Stir well to dissolve sugar. Add crushed Campden tablet and yeast nutrient and cover crock. Wait 12 hours and add pectic enzyme. Wait 12 additional hours and measure both specific gravity and acid. S.G. should be 1.100 tp 1.103; acidity no higher than 7 p.p.t. tartaric. Correct S.G. and acid by using one of three methods described below following recipes, if required. Add yeast, re-cover primary, and stir must 2-4 times daily, knocking down "cap" of skins and seeds each time. Check S.G. daily until it drops to 1.040. Strain pulp well to extract liquid and discard pulp. Recover primary and continue fermenting as before until S.G. reaches 1.030. Siphon into secondary fermentation vessel, fit airlock, and ferment 30 days. Rack and top up, then rack again every 30 days until wine has cleared. Wait additional 30 days, stabilize, and rack again. Sweeten to taste and bottle. Allow to age at least 18 months before drinking. Improves with additional aging.|||There is no better source of information than Jack Keller in Texas on making wine from American grapes.





See his site at http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/index.a鈥?/a> for everything there is to know.