A Winedale Christmas with Mustang Grape Wine

Yesterday I drove about two hours east of Austin to a collection of historic buildings called Winedale. They were having a Christmas celebration representing the era of the buildings, which was about 1830 to 1850. 


There I encountered Mustang Grape Wine. The wild grapes in the area are called Mustang grapes. They are so highly acidic that they can burn your mouth if you try to eat them raw. However, they make good wine. The trick is to add something in the recipe to neutralize or dilute the acidity.


Jack Keller has a nice website that explains how to make this kind of wine. In the picture, the large bottle holds home-made Mustang Grape Wine. I tasted it, and it was quite good. The wooden implement next to it is a grape pounder. 

You cannot stomp Mustang Grapes because their acidity would burn your feet. Therefore, an implement is needed to crush them.


I was confused about the difference between Mustang grapes and Muscadine grapes. Both of these grapes are native to North America. Mustang grapes are Vitus mustangensis and Muscadine grapes are Vitus rotundifolia. Both are found in Texas.


People also use Mustang grapes to make jams and jellies. The important thing to remember though is not to eat them directly from the vine. They will burn your mouth and taste absolutely awful. But they were quite useful for the settlers in Texas.

Winedale is located in an area that was settled by German and Czech immigrants. The buildings show their distinct influence. The ceilings of the houses have painted designs that have a definite German/Czech influence.

Wooden Christmas pyramids originated in the Erzgebirge region of Germany, and a wonderful historical version is on display at Winedale. Some people believe that the tradition of the Christmas Tree originated with these wooden Christmas pyramids. The pyramids date back to the 16th century when miners tied wooden sticks together, made a rack and placed wooden carved figures and candles below the rack. They called them Light Racks or Lichtergestell.  



The pictures are not great because the pyramid was in a glass case and many people were making it difficult to find a good photography position.

The pyramid version in Winedale even has wooden miners on it in honor of the originators of the pyramids. The docents told us that this pyramid was only brought out one time, Christmas Eve, during the year for the children to see.  


My adventure to Winedale was fruitful because I had never tasted Mustang wine before. It would probably be a lot of fun to make Mustang wine if I had the time.