Today, I want to tell you about Indulgence, a new wine grape variety
from the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture,
Indulgence is a Muscat flavored wine grape
adapted to Arkansas and areas of similar climate.
It attains its Muscat flavor from the French variety
Muscat of Ottonel. Wine Grape breeding is a long term endeavor.
And it started in the UA System Division of Agriculture with an effort begun by Dr.
Jim Moore many years ago,
and he cooperated over the years
with doctors Renee Threlfall and Justin Morris
in the food science department for enological Evaluations
Indulgence ripens on average about August 14th
In West Central Arkansas
and the ripening date
is ranged from August 8 to 21
in multiple years of testing, with various
environmental variation among years.
The vines have average just over 35 pounds per vine in yield.
Berries of Indulgence average 2.5 grams and clusters average 153 grams
and are usually compact as the clusters I show here.
But sometimes they varied somewhat in set and have been more loose in some years
due to environmental conditions
during bloom and fruit set. Soluble solids average 16.5% with a pH
of 3.2 and titratable acidity Of .64 grams per 100 milliliter.
The vines of Indulgence are medium in vigor
and have an upright growth habit.
The vines have withstood very severe winters recently in Arkansas,
down to a low of -15 Fahrenheit with no winter injury.
Although the vines in our research vineyard at our Fruit Research Station
near Clarksville are sprayed to control major diseases,
occasionally in our test vineyards, we do see diseases develop.
For Indulgence, powdery mildew is seen in four of 26 years in light infections,
and downy mildew was not observed in any years,
even those with heavy infection of downy mildew. Indulgence will complement
other cultivars in commercial production
in Arkansas and other regions with similar growing conditions.
It can be used for production of a single varietal
wine or as a blender to enhance the flavor or aroma of other wines.
Indulgence is exciting. A new variety for Arkansas
wine grape growers and others in the region or similar climates,
and want to produce a high quality, muscat flavored wine.
I'm pretty excited about indulgence, and I hope you will be too.
Hi, I'm Dr Renee Threlfall.
I'm a research scientist at the food science department
at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
I want talk to you today about indulgence
white wine grape. Indulgence is a cross between Seyval and Muscat Ottonel.
Seyval is a French-American hybrid
with neutral flavors, while Muscat Ottonel
is a Vitus vinifera grape that has Muscat-like aromas and flavors.
When we harvest the grapes, the grapes are very green-skinned
and they produce a juice after crushing and pressing
that has many of the Muscat- like aromas and flavors
of honey and floral and fruitiness.
And after crushing the juice itself has very good acid levels,
but sometimes the sugar levels need to be adjusted.
The wines will be clear and bright with a light golden appearance
and have those aromas and flavors of citrus, peach, floral and honeysuckle.
The flavor of that Muscat holds up well during storage,
and so you can enjoy the wines for many years.