I live in Louisiana, so it’s not unusual for me to encounter a few locally produced bottles of non-vinifera wines - whether Muscadine or Blackberry. One West Monroe-based winery, Landry Vineyards, makes a few Muscadine wines - sweet, red, white, rosé…
Prior to this evening, I had never seen nor heard of wine made from the Muscadine grape in the middle of Cabernet Sauvignon country. Who would be crazy enough to do something like that?
The Wine-Bid site includes a number of Napa Valley Auction bottles. I ended up visiting the official Premiere Napa Valley webpage to see what various one-offs and unusual bottlings were highlighted. My jaw almost hit the floor as I cast my eyeballs on one “Spiriterra Vineyards 2013 Muscadine”!!!
Per the PNVA site:
“100% Muscadine individually handpicked from small, sustainable family estate near Howell Mountain”
https://premierenapavalley.com/wines/wine_detail.asp?Lot=600125
On the Spiriterra Vineyards website, a Muscadine is available for purchase ($25/btl).
“In 2009 we planted our, and Napa Valley’s, first experimental Muscadine and Scuppernong vineyard. Spiriterra Vineyards proprietor, Paul Dean, was raised in rural Georgia and wanted to bring a little bit of his southeastern upbringing to the Napa Valley. These native grapes of North America are traditionally grown in the southeastern United States and have been cultivated for more than 400 years for the production of commercial fine wines and ports.”
https://www.spiriterravineyards.com/vineyards
Now, I have always understood Muscadine and Scuppernong to be one and the same thing. Apparently I am mistaken.
https://www.spiriterravineyards.com/spiriterra-vineyards-brings-taste-of-south-to-napa-valley
Can anyone help me wrap my head around why someone would plant some Muscadine on land that probably costs thousands of dollars per square foot?