[maraford]

Most have never tasted a wine made with muscadine grapes. For those of us who grew up in the South, the muscadine/scuppernong grape juice is sweet, distinctive, and often served cold on a hot summer day.

For the first time this year, a vintner won multiple medals from the judges for two different muscadine wines. We tried the less sweet offering. The Electric Pelican from Hinnant Family in North Carolina claims to be smooth with some acidity to balance the sweetness. Ford found it an acceptable sweet wine, though he was less impressed than the judges. Mara found it too sweet and thought it did not go with barbecue (the suggestion was to pair it with local foods). One of the Spartanburg tasters liked it with fresh fruit as a dessert.

The other Spartanburg taster reported, “What a delightful surprise. I didn't think it was too sweet (as Mara did). I tasted mostly grape and I imagine that if we had the freshly picked grapes from which it came, I would have pigged out on them. It lived up to its name, as it delivered such a pleasant tingle of a buzz !!!!”