Tried these three whilst I was back in KansasCity last week:
1. StonePillar Favorita Kansas WW (Vintner's Collection; Vermentino; www.StonePillarVineyard.com; 10.5%) Olathe/KS NV: Very light/near colorless color; light grapey/vaguely Favorita light earthy very bland nose; soft off-dry (1%-1.5% r.s.?) bland/vapid/watery lightly Vermentino/grapey flavor; short watery/vapid/bland lightly grapey/Favorita bit earthy finish; an incredibly bland/vapid dull as dishwater white. $16.00 (Lukas)
________________
2. StonePillar Hofftoberfest Kansas WW (11%; semi-sweet blend of American hybrid grapes) Olathe/KS: Pale/near colorless color; rather coarse/grapey/musky/hybridy rather earthy bit more interesting nose; soft/underacid fairly sweet (2%-4% r.s.?) very grapey/hybridy/floral/earthy almost Isabella-like rather simple flavor; med.long grapey/hybridy/coarse fairly sweet rather bitter finish; speaks strongly of hybrid white grapes but not as aromatic as Isabella; more like a Seyval or a Vignoles. $14.00 (Lukas)
________________
3. WyldeWoodCllrs Muscadine Sweet (12%; www.WyldeWoodCellars.com) Peck/Mulvane/KS NV: Light ruby/garnet color; very strong/fragrant grapey/Muscadine/Welch's grape jelly/floral rather earthy/rustic quite perfumed nose; rather tart/tangy/bit metallic intense grapey/Muscadine/Welch's grape jam/Concordy rather sweet (4%-6% r.s.?) somewhat bitter flavor w/ light tannins; very long intense grapey/Muscadine/Concordy/Welch's grape jelly rather simple fairly sweet finish w/ light bitter tannins; speaks very strongly of Muscadine but not as sweet/syrupy as VirginiaDare; a light-weight expression of Muscadine. It is what it is. $12.00 (Lukas)
__________________________
A wee BloodyPlpit:
1. When I was back in KansasCity, I was searching out a few wines I could try on my freshly-minted son-in-law. He hails from the deep-South of Northern Georgia and is familiar w/ wines from Muscadine, so I had to search this one out. When I asked the clerk at Lukas if he had any Muscadine wines, he gave me this bemused look as if to say "Why would you want something like that?". He directed me to the only one they had in stock. One shelf below, I saw a Kansas wine labeled "Favorita", which is the Piemonte designation for the Vermentino grape from nearby Liguria. That's a bizarre name for a US wine but, sure enough, they had appropriated the Piemontese name for their Vermentino. Favorita is not a US-approved grape name, but since it's only for sale in Kansas, they can get away with using that name. I tasted it w/ low expectations and it far exceeded thos expectations.
Muscadine is also a grape species known as Vitus Rotundifolia. There are something like 152 Muscadine cultivars of varying pigmentations. Most cultivars are pistillate, which means they require a pollenizer to se fruit. Muscadine is most commonly found in the South where its thick skin make them resistent to mold from the high humidity. The VirginiaDare Scuppernong is probably the most famous of the Muscadine wines. They are almost always finished quite sweet...never done see'd a dry Muscadine. It is much more commonly used for table/eating grapes and jams/jellies....probably the highest calling for Muscadine.
John liked the Muscadine quite a lot since it was a flavor & sweetness level he was accustomed to in that wine. A bit too intensely Muscadine for my taste, though.
Tom