Mangoes and Muscadine

Florida Winery Offers Tropical Treats

WRITTEN BY CHRIS FASOLINO

the St. John’s River. The location at the river’s mouth seemed strategic, but the settlers, some of whom were from aristocratic families and brought their gilded armor with them to the New World frontier, struggled amid the perils and hardships of their new environment.

Mutinies broke out twice, and some of the mutineers who sailed off to chart their own course became prisoners of the Spanish, revealing the existence of the settlement. The Spaniards, fearing that Fort Caroline could be a base for French attacks on their treasure-laden galleons, launched a devastating attack that marked the end of the colony.

During the colony’s brief existence, however, it had been visited by an English captain in search of provisions, and it was he who reported on the production of muscadine wine. The captain, a cousin of Sir Francis Drake, claimed that the struggling colony of Fort Caroline had managed to produce 20 “hogshead” barrels of muscadine wine. Measurements varied, but a hogshead barrel might contain between 60 and 70 gallons. Thus, at least in the area of winemaking, the colony appeared to have been prospering.

The muscadine grape is endemic to North America. And while Native Americans enjoyed its fruit, they did not use it to make wine. So the history of muscadine wine began with settlers like those at that early Florida fortress. Although Fort Caroline did not last, the making of muscadine wine has continued in the centuries since.

Not Starboard

Awine

geek like me is going to have some question marks when it comes to sampling muscadine wine. After all, muscadine vines are a different species from the vines traditionally used to make great wine. The latter are Vitis vinifera, often just called vinifera; the many different kinds of wine from the Mediterranean and from Europe are all made from varieties of vinifera grapes, and the vines themselves have been exported and transplanted all over the world. The North American muscadine vines are Vitis rotundifolia, a separate species. In addition, muscadine wine has the reputation of being very sweet, a quality which certainly has its devotees, but which is admittedly not to my taste.

While many of the wines at Summer Crush Vineyard and Winery are quite sweet, the vineyard’s port-style muscadine wine has richness and depth, along with a subtle sweetness. I found it to be excellent, and I think it would appeal to just about anyone who enjoys port. The winemakers at the Fort Pierce vineyard have cleverly named their port-style wine “Not Starboard.” Why? Well, frst of all, for the same reason I keep using the phrase “port-style.” Port is a geographic term as well as a stylistic one; prop- erly speaking, it can be applied only to wines from Portugal — just as a sparkling wine must be from the Champagne region of France to be called “Champagne.”

Combine that fact with the Summer Crush fondness for maritime references — whether to surfng, sailing or pirates — and you can see the pun. This wine is not starboard, so it is . . . well, there you go!

Not Starboard is a full-bodied wine that is ideal for sipping after dinner. There are favor notes here of vanilla, walnut and nutmeg. With its warm favors, richness and depth, it is indeed reminiscent of a tawny port. And like a tawny port, it would pair well with rich desserts, such as fourless chocolate cake, creme brulee or just about anything involving chocolate ganache. This is a wine that certainly shows the potential of the muscadine grape — even for a vinifera-fancier like me!

Mango Wine

Given the warming qualities of port-style wine, Not Starboard may be more appealing when the weather cools off later in the year. However, Summer Crush also produces a fruit wine, made from mangoes, which is a great choice for summer weather. It’s called “Mangoritaville” in an apparent nod to Jimmy Buffett, and the label is equally playful, featuring anthropomorphic creatures — a parrot, a pelican and a lizard — enjoying glasses of wine at a tiki bar. The name and imagery ft with the tropical character of the wine, while they perhaps belie the interesting range of favors that it offers.

Unlike some fruit wines, this is not cloyingly sweet; in fact, I would describe it as off-dry. The blend of tartness and sweetness that a good mango offers lends itself to a balanced fruit wine with contrast and counterpoint. And the rich favors of mango make for a wine that is vibrant, bold and undeniably tropical. Served lightly chilled, this mango wine is a delightful and refreshing choice for the evening of a hot summer day. It could be paired with a variety of seafood dishes or sipped after dinner with fresh fruit.

These two wines from Summer Crush Vineyard and Winery are very different from one another, yet each offers something that is distinctively Floridian. In the creative use of the muscadine variety in Not Starboard, with its port-style warmth and richness, and in the tropical fair of Mangoritaville, with its vibrant and refreshing qualities, this Fort Pierce vineyard and winery has provided some intriguing local choices on the wine scene. ❂