Champagne Jelly

Reason No 100

Grow Champagne grapes and make jelly.  I made an entire list of 100 things a Farm can achieve and I scrambled the order. So - Jelly is number 100.

Pink Grape Jelly is the most beautiful and delicious jelly I've ever had. EVER! The grapes my mom grew a few years ago were from the Muscat Pink family. The Italian name is Moscato rosa del Trentino.

She had a trellis in her back yard and it was covered in the beautiful rose orbs. I believe she had 6 plants total. They were the prettiest covering of a trellis I've ever seen. Just like something out of Tuscany. But located in the country side of Indiana.

It took a few years to produce enough to make jelly but it can be achieved within 2-3 years. Enough to test the grapes for your own use.

The trellis was a wonderful place to have morning coffee and danishes. Oh how I miss that. Sad story on the demise of the vines. One night, Mom and Dad heard a commotion in the back yard and slowly peeked out the back door into the yard. They watched in horror as six full grown raccoons were having a meal of the grapes and the vines. Within minutes, the entire vines, roots, grapes and her patio were a war zone of squashed fruit and uprooted vines. When my Mom yelled at them, they all assembled on the edge of the trellis and hissed at her. She retreated to the house. 

Next day - Dad tore the whole thing down. My brother in-law has one or two of the surviving roots. I need to check with him if he still has them. I'm not sure.

The grapes only produced a small amount of jelly but she shared with all of us. The photo does not do it justice. It was the color of babies cheeks while sleeping. Just a hue of pink. Oh - it was fantastic.

Anyway - I'd share the recipe but my Mom wouldn't part with it. I'm pretty sure you can use any grape jelly recipe and substitute the juice from the vine of Moscato rosa del Trentino. Pretty sounding too. Call it Rosa Trentino jelly.