SCUPPERNONG

a grape of the Muscadin family and one of the most famous of the several varieties native to the Southern States. It takes its name from the Escapernong tribe of Indians. It is mentioned in the records of the first explorers, and the wine from it has been in great favor since the earliest settlement of the country.

The Scuppernong grows singly or in small groups, instead of in large clusters or bunches. It does not bear profitably in the Northern States, but it grows freely and bears lavishly, both wild and cultivated, in the South. The berries ripen individually and are in some vineyards gathered from the ground as they fall from the vines. In others, they are picked from the vines as they mature. They are the biggest of all cultivated grapes, being frequently double the size of the largest Concord. The several varieties may be grouped into "white," or green, and "purple," the former being the more noteworthy. The "white" berry is dull green, frequently spotted with brown.

The Scuppernong is not a particularly good table grape--its flesh is sweet, but marked by a musky odor and taste which is displeasing to some palates, and it is more perishable and consequently more difficult of transportation than other varieties--but it makes excellent wines, classed as "Scuppernongs," white and red, dry and sweet, still and sparkling--the best known being a sweet, aromatic, still, white wine of golden hue.

The Scuppernong, unlike other wine grapes, is generally allowed to spread as widely as it wishes, a single vine frequently covering one or more acres, being supported and trained over arbors.