07/11/10

Pennsylvania journalists cite Duplin Winery as a great source of native stateside wines!

From Centre Daily Times, serving central Pennsylvania.

Having just celebrated Independence Day, we think it’s time to declare our independence from European grapes — French, Italian, Spanish and other foreign grapes and their wines.

When the Europeans arrived here, they were ecstatic — the woods were full of grapevines, free for the picking. They gave places names such as Brandywine Creek in anticipation of the wonderful native wines that they would harvest.

But the grapes didn’t taste like European grapes and the wine didn’t taste like European wine.

Perhaps the best of the native American grape varieties is the Catawba grape. Catawba is an Indian word. Both white and pink Catawba wines are tart, fruity and usually semi-dry.

If you prefer white wine, try a Niagara (another native American grape.) If you like grape juice with your BLT, you’ll like Niagara wine with it.

A sort of red wine (very little tannin) is Concord made from Concord grapes. This one has an English name but is a native American grape nonetheless. The grape is the result of careful selection and crossing of more than 20,000 American grapevines found in New England near and around Concord, Mass., by Ephram Bull. When he got the grape taste that suited him, he submitted it to the Boston Horticultural Society and took first place in 1853.

Thomas Welch, doctor of divinity, found he could preserve grape juice by pasteurization and so avoid alcohol altogether. He also found that the pigments bleached out of the skins, and later vintners made Concord wine red by boiling the must before fermentation.

Finally, there is scuppernong (an American Indian name). The scuppernong is the state fruit of North Carolina. Try a Duplin Scuppernong at $8 a bottle.