Muscadine Grape Varieties for Florida From the Horticultural Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida Florida Grape Varieties Produced at FAES (Florida Agricultural Experiment Station)
Recommended Cultivars for Fresh Market Black Beauty Black Beauty is a pistillate cultivar that is patented. It produces an attractive, very large, black berry grape of high overall quality. Berries are crunchy when ripe. Vine vigor and yield are moderate, and harvest is mid season. 1 Black Fry Black Fry is a pistillate cultivar that is patented. It produces a large, black berry. Vine vigor and yield are in the moderate range. Harvest is early to mid-season. It is reported to have leaf disease problems (Krewer 2000). 1 Good fresh or for jelly. Patent #5824. 20% sugar. Ripens mid to late September. Needs pollination. Zones 7-9A Fry Fry is not patented and is the most popular muscadine grape cultivar. It is a pistillate cultivar and produces a very large, bronze grape. Yield, vigor and disease resistance are moderate. The period from first ripening to last ripening can extend to 6 weeks. 1 Zones 8-10. Granny Val Granny Val is self-fertile, patented, produces an extremely heavy yield, and extends the harvest season into late September and October. In some years, it can overproduce and stress the vine. Berries are bronze, but are not quite as large or sweet as Fry. Cordon dieback has been a problem. Due to tendency to overcrop, 'Granny Val' should be pruned to 2 node spurs. 1 If you want high yield this is the one. The heaviest producing variety, it yields multitudes of high quality bronze fruit. 16% sugar. Ripens mid to late September. Self-fertile. 1 Zones 7-9A Farrer Farrer is a patented cultivar. It is a pistillate cultivar that has produced well at the NFREC-Monticello. It produces a large, purple grape that is somewhat more elongated and much sweeter than Jumbo. 1 Ison Ison is a patented, self-fertile cultivar that produces a moderate to large, black grape. Yields are said to be high. It may be a good choice as a pollenizer. Harvest season is early and vine vigor is high. 1 Pam Pam is patented. It is a pistillate cultivar that produces a very large, yellowish bronze grape with a mild muscadine flavor. It has a good flavor and is attractive. Yield is moderate and vine vigor is high. Harvest is mid-season. 1 Pineapple Pineapple is patented. It is self-fertile and produces a medium-large, bronze grape. Vine vigor and yield are moderate and harvest season is mid- to late-season. It may have a tendency to over-crop. It is reported to have a pineapple flavor, although it was not detectable by the author. 1 Polyanna Polyanna is self-fertile and produces a medium-large, dark purple grape. It is not patented. Yields have been rated moderate to high. Berry flavor is very sweet and berries are attractive. Vigor is medium-high and harvest season is medium to late. Polyanna has potential as a pollenizer for pistillate cultivars. 1 Southern Home Southern Home is a patented, interspecific V. rotundifolia x V. vinifera hybrid that has considerable ornamental value owing to a bilaterally convex leaf with deeply cut sinuses. It produces a black berry with a cluster size of about 12. Berry size is medium, and berry flavor is non-muscadine. Yield is moderate to high, and ripening period is from August to November. 1 Excellent red wine grape if you're inclined.. Beautiful, oak-shaped leaves. Patent #9454. 18% sugar. Self-fertile. Zones 7-9A. Summit Summit is an excellent fresh market bronze cultivar. It is not patented. It is a pistillate cultivar that produces a medium-large grape that is very sweet. Vigor is high and yield is moderate to high. Yields and disease resistance are higher than those for Fry, although berry size is slightly smaller. 1 Excellent fresh eating grape. 20% sugar. Ripens early to mid September. Vines produce only female flowers, requiring a pollenizer. Zones 7-10. Supreme Supreme is patented and it is a pistillate cultivar. It produces a very large, dark purple grape that is very sweet. Yields have been high in southern Georgia. It is low in vigor and vine mortality may occur if vines are allowed to over produce. Vines should be pruned to 2 node spurs to avoid over-cropping. Harvest is mid- to late-season. 1 Sweet Jenny Sweet Jenny is a patented cultivar. It is pistillate and produces a very large, bronze grape early in the season. Vine vigor and yield are moderate. Disease resistance has been reported to be low to moderate, and berry blemishes were more apparent than on other cultivars. 1 Tara Tara is a self-fertile cultivar that produces a large bronze grape. It is not patented. Vine vigor and yield are moderate. It has an early- to mid-season harvest. Tara has potential as a pollenizer for pistillate cultivars. 1 Good disease resistance. 17% sugar. Ripens mid September. Self-fertile. Zones 7-9A. Recommended Muscadine Cultivars for Processing into Wine, Juice and Jellies Alachua Alachua produces a medium-sized black berry. It is not patented. Vines are self-fertile, productive and medium-high in vigor. Berries ripen uniformly mid-season. The fresh market potential of Alachua is limited due to lack of a competitively sized berry. 1 Premier fresh eating and wine grape. Medium size black grape is sweet and juicy. Excellent production. 18% sugar. Ripens September-October. Self-fertile. Zones 7-10. Carlos Carlos is an extremely heavy producer of medium-sized, bronze grapes. It is self- fertile and will provide the tonnage and quality required for juice or wine production. Carlos is the number one bronze juice or wine grape in the southeastern United States. In years of heavy production and/or drought or mineral stress, it has shown symptoms of Pierce's disease. 1 One of our best pollinator grapes. Produces lots of small, 1/2 inch bronze fruit. Excellent for jelly and wines. 16% sugar. Ripens mid to late September. Self-fertile. Zones 7-9A. Noble Noble is the most popular red muscadine grape for wine or juice production. It is self-fertile and it is not patented. Yields and disease resistance are high, and berry ripening is fairly uniform. Flavor is less musky than most muscadine grapes. Noble has color stability and is a good wine grape. 1 Blend with Southland for a pink Chablis, very productive. 18% sugar. Ripens mid to late September. Self-fertile. Zones 7-9A. Welder Welder is a bronze grape that also produces a good juice and wine. Yield is moderate, and the berry ripening period can be very extended such that three harvests may be required. 1 Fresh Market Muscadine Cultivars Recommended for Trial: African Queen African Queen is patented. It is a pistillate cultivar that produces a large, black grape. Quantitative yield data are lacking for Florida, although yield has been erratic in southern Georgia. It ripens mid season and has a dry scar. 1 Big Red Big Red is patented. It is a female cultivar that produces a very large, red grape. Quantitative yield data are lacking for Florida, although yields have been erratic in southern Georgia. Vigor is very low. It ripens mid to late season. 1 Creek Creek produces a small, purple berry that is higher in acid than most muscadine grape cultivars. It is not patented. Vine vigor and yield are moderately high and ripening season is late. Color stability for juice or wine has not been tested to our knowledge. 1 Darlene Darlene is a patented cultivar. It is a pistillate cultivar that produces a very large, pink grape. It ripens early to mid season and vine vigor is high. Quantitative yield data are lacking for Florida, although yields have been erratic in southern Georgia. 1 Delicious Delicious is a self-fertile, bronze-fruited cultivar that is sweet and medium-large in size. It also has attributes of even ripening and a dry scar. Delicious is a good candidate for mechanical harvesting. Delicious has not been evaluated at the NFREC-Quincy. Doreen Doreen is a self-fertile cultivar that produces a large crop of small to medium-sized berries. It is not patented. Harvest season is late. Quantitative yield data are lacking for north Florida. Doreen is reported to be one of the best cultivars for juice production. 1 18% sugar. Ripens early October. Zones 7-10. Early Fry This is a patented cultivar that resembles Fry, but ripens earlier. It is a pistillate cultivar that produces a dark bronze fruit. Vine vigor and yield were rated low in north Florida, although yield estimates appear high in southern Georgia (Krewer 2000). 1 Eudora Eudora is a pistillate cultivar that produces medium-large, sweet, purple-colored fruit. Although it has an uneven ripening period, berries within a cluster ripen uniformly, thus allowing for the harvest of entire grape clusters. Eudora has not been tested at the NFREC-Quincy. Florida Fry Florida Fry is self-fertile and produces a medium-large, bronze grape. It is patented. Harvest season is mid- to late-season. Vine vigor is moderate. Yield is expected to be moderate to high, but quantitative yield data are lacking. 1 Golden Isles Golden Isles is a non-patented, self-fertile cultivar that ripens mid season. Berries are small to medium in size and, taste is non muscadine for a muscadine grape. Quantitative yield data has not been collected for Florida. 1 Majesty Majesty is a pistillate cultivar that produces large, moderately sweet, purple-colored berries. Vine vigor and yield is reported to be high, although Majesty has not been tested at the NFREC-Quincy. Nesbitt Nesbitt produces a black grape that is medium-large in size. Yields are high and crop is late to mid season. This is a multi-use grape for fresh market or processing. 1 Zones 7-10. Southern Jewel Southern Jewel is a self-fertile vine that produces a large, black-colored fruit that is moderately high in soluble solids. It has been reported to be high yielding and disease resistant, although it has not been evaluated at the NFREC-Quincy.  The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Science (UF-IFAS) tabulates chill hours (as opposed to average minimum temperature) in more detail for Florida and their map can be used to identify the expected range of chill hours for areas in Florida. Be sure to match your plants by Hardiness Zone and by chill hours if you live in Florida! Minimum Overnight Temperature ext. link Cultivar Release Bulletins Alachua, University of Florida, MREC/IFAS pdf Delicious, University of Florida, MREC/IFAS pdf Dixie, University of Florida, Agricultural Experiment Stations, Gainsville FL pdf Florida Fry, University of Florida, MREC/IFAS pdf Nesbitt, University of Florida, MREC/IFAS pdf Southern Jewel, University of Florida, MREC/IFAS pdf Southern Home, University of Florida, MREC/IFAS pdf Further Reading Commercial Fresh Market Wine, Juice, and Jelly Grape Cultivars for Florida, University of Florida pdf Muscadine Grape Breeding Program, University of Georgia ext. link Back to Muscadine Grape Page |
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| Bibliography 1 Andersen, Peter C., et al. "The Muscadine Grape." Horticultural Sciences Dept., UF/IFAS Extension, Original pub. June 2003, Revised Nov. 2010, Oct. 2013, and Jan. 2017, Oct. 2020, Reviewed Sept. 2023, HS763, AskIFA, edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs100. Accessed 15 Sept. 2018, 29 Sept. 2020, 27 Apr. 2024. Published 8 Nov. 2014 LR. Last update 27 Apr. 2024 LR |
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