Old-Fashioned Muscadine Wine

Homemade Wine
John Rensten / Getty Images
Prep: 2 hrs
Cook: 0 mins
Total: 2 hrs
Servings: 25 servings
Yield: 1 gallon
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
207 Calories
0g Fat
53g Carbs
0g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 25
Amount per serving
Calories 207
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 6mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 53g 19%
Dietary Fiber 1g 5%
Total Sugars 48g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 2mg 12%
Calcium 17mg 1%
Iron 0mg 1%
Potassium 77mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Muscadine grapes are native to the United States, but if you've never heard of them, it's because muscadine grapes aren't commercially farmed like other grapes, and their wine isn't as sought after as wine from other varieties. But these grapes are still cultivated in the South, mainly because they do well in warm, humid climates and because that's where they were originally found. The grapes range in color from green and bronze to deep purple, are larger than other grapes used for making wine, and have tougher skins and seeds. They mature in late summer and early fall and have worked their way into the culinary repertoire of the South in the form of jams, jellies, fruit butter, pies, juice, and especially wine.

Muscadine grapes yield both white and red wines, and they're famous as sweet wines because, in the past, a lot of sugar was added to resemble the flavors of other types of grapes. Now that processes are changing, the production of muscadine wine is shifting and giving birth to bottles of refreshing and medium-bodied wines that, although typically sweeter than other wines, are wonderful accompaniments for dessert or great as post-dinner caps. Muscadine wine has an average alcohol content of 10 percent ABV.

Our recipe for muscadine wine makes a sweet, old-fashioned wine. Since this recipe will strain the liquids from the solids, it's not necessary to remove the skin and seeds from the grapes before mashing them. The recipe calls for 1 quart of mashed grapes; you'll need about 4 pounds of grapes to produce that amount. This kind of process can also be done with regular grapes or blackberries.

Ingredients

  • 6 cups granulated sugar

  • 3 quarts filtered water

  • 1 quart mashed muscadine grapes

  • 1 (1/4-ounce) packet active dry yeast (7 grams)

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

  2. In a large, cleaned, and sanitized gallon-sized glass container, dissolve sugar in water.

  3. Add mashed grapes to water and sprinkle active dry yeast over top, but don't stir. Cover container with a clean cheesecloth or kitchen towel and place in a dark and cool area, ideally between 68 F and 72 F. Let mixture rest for 24 hours.

  4. Once a day has passed, stir mixture well and cover again, returning it to a dark and cool area. From this moment on, you need to stir mixture every day at the same time, for a full week.

  5. After seven days of stirring and resting, strain liquid into another clean and sanitized gallon container with an air lock.

  6. Fill with additional water to come up to the top of the gallon container. Let wine ferment for six weeks in a cool and dark place.

  7. After six weeks, strain liquid again and place it in a clean gallon container. Cap lightly for three days to allow for any more fermentation to cease.

  8. Pour wine into bottles with an airtight cap and store in the fridge.

Are muscadine and scuppernong the same?

The scuppernong is a variety of muscadine named after a river in North Carolina, but it is not the same as muscadine. Both grapes grow wild and are now domesticated in the southeastern United States. Scuppernongs are usually greenish bronze, while muscadines are typically dark bluish purple. Technically, you can call any scuppernong grape a muscadine, but you can't call a muscadine grape a scuppernong.


Many people use scuppernongs interchangeably with muscadines, but in addition to the color, the flavor is different. Muscadines are sweeter than many kinds of grapes, more similar to Concord grapes. Scuppernongs are tarter.


Muscadines and scuppernongs both have thick skins and don't grow in bunches like traditional grapes but instead, in clusters like blueberries.

How to Store, and How Long Does Homemade Muscadine Wine Last?

  • Always store your homemade muscadine wine in a cool place.
  • The shelf life of your homemade wine depends on two factors: how well the containers, tools, and bottles were sanitized and if you used sulfites in the making of the wine.
  • Our recipe calls for sanitized bottles but not for sulfites. The clean bottles guarantee that there will be no bacterial growth or mold, but the lack of sulfites does shorten the shelf life. Sulfites are additives that help preserve foods and beverages, and without them, products don't last as long.
  • Because the mixture lacks sulfites, it should be consumed in three to six months. However, any faulty smell, the appearance of mold, or any change in texture should be sufficient alarm for you to get rid of the wine. This means that the containers, tools, or bottles were improperly sanitized.

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