Muscadines are rather, well, skanky. They do make a great wine, but need some age and love. The grapes should be destemmed, crushed, and then fermented. I would highly recommend the campden, as they will be covered with wild yeast and mold and bacteria and it's pretty hard to pasteurize 40 pounds of grapes.
Anyway, once they are destemmed and crushed, you can proceed.
I really like Jack Keller's website on winemaking, and he's an expert on muscadines:
Muscadine Grape (Vitis Rotundifolia) Wines
Muscadine grapes, the infamous Vitis rotundifolia, is a black cousin to the bronze scuppernong. Found throughout the southeast from east Texas-Arkansas to the Atlantic, the muscadine and its wine are as Southern as Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy.
Theses grape vines are terrific climbers and reach up high into trees, cover brush, climb telephone poles and guy wires, and run along fences, growing up to 50 feet per year. The grapes themselves are usually sweet but can be acidic requiring lots of sugar and positive acid reduction measures to make a decent wine. Like the mustang grape, the muscadine is not the best wine grape, but since it's readily available and free to boot, it will do--often quite nicely. Muscadine wine can be very good, especially when allowed to age 3-4 years. Having said that, I'll add one other precautionary warning. When high in acidity, muscadine grapes can cause severe skin irritation until the acidity is corrected. For that reason, wear rubber gloves when picking, handling and squeezing these wild grapes. The wine won't taste any better, but you'll avoid a 2-3-week rash between your fingers and on your wrists should they prove to be irritating.
MUSCADINE GRAPE WINE (1) (Makes 1 Gallon)
6 lbs ripe Muscadine Grapes
2-1/4 lbs granulated sugar
3 qts water
1 tsp pectic enzyme
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 crushed Campden tablet
1 packet Montrachet wine yeast
Boil the water and dissolve the sugar in it. While sugar-water is cooling, wash, destem and crush the grapes. Pour crushed grapes into nylon straining bag, tie securely, and put in primary. Pour water over grapes, add crushed Campden tablet and yeast nutrient, and cover primary securely. After 12 hours add pectic enzyme. Wait additional 12 hours and measure both specific gravity and acid. S.G. should be 1.090 or higher; acidity no higher than 7 p.p.t. tartaric. Correct S.G. if required by adding additional sugar. Correct low acid by adding acid blend and high acid by using one of three methods described following recipes. Add yeast, recover primary, and squeeze nylon bag lightly and stir must twice daily for about 5-7 days or until S.G. drops to 1.020. Press pulp well to extract liquid. Pour into secondary fermentation vessel, fit airlock, and let stand 3 weeks. Rack and top up, then rack again in 2 months and again after additional 2 months. If wine has cleared, bottle. If not, wait until wine clears, rack again and bottle. This wine may be sweetened before bottling by stabilizing, waiting 10-12 hours, then adding 2/3 to 1-1/3 cup sugar-water per gallon (2 parts sugar dissolved in 1 part water). May taste after one year, but improves remarkably with age (2-4 years). [Author's recipe.]
MUSCADINE GRAPE WINE (2)
Makes 1 Gallon
6-8 lbs Muscadine Grapes
2 lbs granulated sugar
3 qts water
1 tsp pectic enzyme
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 crushed Campden tablet
1 packet Montrachet wine yeast
Wash and destem the grapes. Run grapes through a grape crusher or crush in crock primary using a sterilized 4X4 or other suitable device in an up-and-down action. Meanwhile, bring water to boil. Add sugar to grapes and pour boiling water over grapes and sugar. Stir well to dissolve sugar. Add crushed Campden tablet and yeast nutrient and cover crock. Wait 12 hours and add pectic enzyme. Wait 12 additional hours and measure both specific gravity and acid. S.G. should be 1.088 or higher; acidity no higher than 0.70% TA. Correct S.G. and acid as in recipe (1) above, if required. Add yeast, recover primary, and stir must 2-4 times daily, knocking down "cap" of skins and seeds each time. Check S.G. daily until it drops to 1.040. Strain and press pulp well to extract liquid and discard pulp. Recover primary and continue fermenting as before until S.G. reaches 1.020. Siphon into secondary fermentation vessel, fit airlock, and ferment to dryness (30-60 days). Rack and top up, then rack again every 30 days until wine has cleared. Wait additional 30 days, stabilize, and rack again. Sweeten to taste and bottle. Allow to age at least 18 months before drinking. Improves with additional aging. [Adapted from recipe published in New Orleans area newspaper, identity unknown, circa 1990.]
MUSCADINE GRAPE WINE (3)
Makes 3 gallons
20-22 lbs ripe Muscadine Grapes
5-6 lbs granulated sugar
8-9 qts water
3 tsp pectic enzyme
3 tsp yeast nutrient
3 crushed Campden tablet
1 packet Montrachet wine yeast
Boil the water and dissolve the sugar in it. While sugar-water is cooling, wash, destem and crush the grapes. Pour crushed grapes into primary. Pour water over grapes, add crushed Campden tablets and yeast nutrient and cover primary securely. After 12 hours add pectic enzyme. Wait additional 12 hours and measure both specific gravity and acid. S.G. should be 1.090 or higher; total acidity no higher than 0.75%. Correct S.G. if required by adding additional sugar. If acid is low, add acid blend as required. If acid is high, use one of three reduction methods described following recipes. Add activated yeast, recover primary, and punch down the cap twice daily (about 5-9 days) until S.G. drops to at least 1.020. Strain off pulp and press in fruit or grape press to extract liquid. Pour into secondary fermentation vessel, fit airlock, and ferment to dryness (S.G. at 0.990). Rack and top up, then rack again in 2 months and again after additional 2 months. If wine has cleared, bottle. If not, wait until wine clears, rack again and bottle. This wine may be sweetened before bottling by stabilizing, waiting 10-12 hours, then adding 2 to 3 cups sugar-water (2 parts sugar dissolved in 1 part water). This wine is drinkable immediately but improves remarkably with age (1-3 years). [Author's recipe.]
