The 2012 ASHS Annual Conference

Muscadine grapes have been important in southeastern United States for their Pier's disease resistance, and muscadine wines have been well recognized for their high nutritional values and unique taste. In addition to the poor color commonly found in warm grape growing regions, the red wines from muscadine grapes in Florida often encountered browning problem due to their unstable pigments. In the efforts to improve the red wine quality of muscadine grapes, the grape breeding program at Florida A&M University selected a new breeding line FamO28-22-5. This selection has perfect flower, is moderate in vigor, very productive, and has produced high quality red wines, as compared the wines from Noble, the best commercial muscadine grape for red wine in Florida. The preliminary  color data obtained from 0.5- to 3.5-year-old aging wines showed the red color of this selection is rich and stable. It  could be a premium red grapes for Florida wine industry in the future.