Muscadines!

When we moved into our home back in late 2003, one thing I did was plant grape vines. On a lark, I ordered a purple muscadine and planted that as well, unsure if it would grow this far west, and in heavy clay soil. Well, the two "Orlando seedless" grape vines turned out to be neither Orlando nor seedless. One's produced no grapes at all, and the other turned out to be the Fredonia variety, producing modest crops these past two years of decent--though not spectacular--grapes. Last year the muscadine produced a handful of big, fat grapes as well. I fell in love with them. Yes, the skins were to thick to eat, but the pulp was very sweet, had an almost plum-like texture, and a flavor akin to toasted nuts. If you've ever had muscadine wine, this toasted nutty flavor comes through strongly. Some people can't stand it. I think it's nifty and exotic.

A month ago, I picked a few early-ripening muscadines and ate them. They were good, but smaller than last year (because of the dry summer we'd had, I assume). Yesterday I went out with a cup to pick a few more, not expecting the crop to be excessive. Well, I filled the cup in a few minutes, and had to go back in the house for a larger container. When all was said and done, I'd gathered at least a quart of muscadines with half that amount still on the fine waiting to fully ripen, and a similar number dried, crushed or nibbled upon on the ground where they'd fallen on their own. It's not a tremendous crop, but far more than I was expecting and proof this vine can flourish in this environment.

So, the question becomes, what to do with these muscadines? Eating them comes to mind, and that'd be a good use, no doubt. But the pleasure would be fleeting. The it occurs to me that sometime next month, after the current homebrew ale project is bottled, I'll have time to start a new batch of mead. Putting a quart of strongly-flavored purple-black muscadines in with 1.5 gallons of fermented honey wine strikes me as potentially a Very Good Thing. After the disappointment of the maypop mead, I want to make sure my fruits have the character to really impact the honey's flavor, and a muscadine melomel (or this would properly be a pyment, I suppose) ought to be a fun thing, indeed.

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