The late William Schulz, a long time HOS member, had a grape he named "Sweet Seduction". It was a white seedless muscat he saw in the U. of Arkansas breeding program on a visit there and when he found it was slated to be discarded, got some from Dr. James Moore, the breeder. I was along on that trip, so this isn't second hand infomration.
While the flavor of "Sweet Seduction" is a good muscat, the clusters are straggly and the vine isn't that productive. That was why Dr. Moore didn't want to release it, choosing the grape that was named "Jupiter" instead for release as it is much more productive with better clusters.
Bill's naming and release of Sweet Seduction was unofficial, though Bill did have permission to have the variety.
The point of all this is that this weekend I saw evidence that some, or possibly a lot, of what is going around as "Sweet Seduction" may be misnamed.
The grape I saw was an old selection, almost certanly from Cornell, that has been named "Thornton' somewhere. It is a white seedless grape that resembles Interlaken, but may have looser clusters. It ripens a week before Interlaken and while it's not a bad grape, it is NOT muscat flavored. By comparison, Sweet Seduction ripens after Interlaken and has a distinct muscat flavor. It is seedless and has more oval berries than Interlaken, and it's clusters are loose to the point of being straggly much of the time.
So if you got something labeled "Sweet Seduction" that ripens very early and doesn't taste like muscat, you probably don't have the right grape.
Lon,
I absolutely agree. I grew what I ordered as a 'sweet suduction' from OGW and it grew prolifically and bore heavily, (without fertilizer, just mulch). However, the ripe fruit was beyod 'foxy' for a muscat. I would have termed it 'skunky' and very, very seedy. Not an palatable grape by any standard. We later rooted Reliance and NY Muscat and found out quickly what truly superb muscat grapes really should taste like. BTW, OGW gladly sent us replacement and was already considering removing this vine from their stock, (even though it may not have been an 'authentic' Sweet Seduction).
For authentic cuttings we always use http://www.bunchgrapes.com. Clearly the best source for rooting material in the US.
While SS grape has quite good muscat flavor, its skin seems tender and boy do the bugs go after them. I would say that bees and yellow jackets get around 90 percent of that particular harvest, mostly leaving my other grapes alone. I figure it keeps them away from the others. If I want a ripened bunch of them I will probably have to net-bag them in some fashion. Unbagged they are an insect magnet.
Vigor of the vine is quite high, I have noticed. Health good too. They seem to ripen pretty early in the Willamette growing season.
I planted a Sweet Seduction from Raintree or One Green World I am not sure which about 4 years ago. I got my first crop this past summer (2009). It is one of the tastiest grapes I have grown and everyone who tried it that is an adult, loved it. Kids overwhelmingly hated it. The muscat flavor must resonate with adult wine drinkers. I have to agree thiugh that it is a magnet for yellow jackets. They stole at least half of the crop. FYI, I live in the Seattle area and this grape ripens very early along with Interlaken. Cool summers do not hamper this grape.
[quote="dudelt":2mp2bn13]I planted a Sweet Seduction from Raintree or One Green World I am not sure which about 4 years ago. I got my first crop this past summer (2009). It is one of the tastiest grapes I have grown and everyone who tried it that is an adult, loved it. Kids overwhelmingly hated it. The muscat flavor must resonate with adult wine drinkers. I have to agree thiugh that it is a magnet for yellow jackets. They stole at least half of the crop. FYI, I live in the Seattle area and this grape ripens very early along with Interlaken. Cool summers do not hamper this grape.[/quote:2mp2bn13]
That sounds like the original.
Ever thought about net-bagging the clusters when they start bringing in the critters?
I found out about an Italian muscat wine type called "Muscat Giallo". Have planted a few in my site and from what I've been told, it is even richer than Muscat Canelli for the flavor. Will have a report by this Fall.
http://www.vinositeshop.com/product-exe ... ll_Sallegg
I am also going to try Sweet Seduction starting this spring i'll report back how I get on... I found this nice article which will give you some more info.
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/loa ... 24919.html
Hope that helps,
____________________
The Grow Man.
Hello gardeners, just launched your society. Know Lon for many years and trust him. The question is HOW to trust those catalog companies selling grape varieties. Life is limited and I'm sick spending another 3-4-5 years growing an unknown and non-recognizable variety. Burgess screwed me up as well as Gurneys . Even worst they used to name variety by their own fantasies names. For instance, I've bought American#1 4 years ago from Burgess and the bush appeared to be just a regular Niagara. 5 another varieties are still non-recognizable ( all seeded instead of seedless). That is why I want to beg some of you to sell me exactly what is responded to the original variety name. If I want Sweet Seduction - I'd like exactly Sweet Seduction and if I want Neptune ( as appeared on OGW web site) I want it with 100% guarantee it is it. I do agree to buy cuttings but from growers like the majority of the community members, not from catalog companies. By the way, I just spoke to the lady from OGW asking her that hypothetical question about mismatched variety. She was pretty honest telling me their company is not a farm and they used to order grapes from different states and different suppliers and they give you NO GUARANTEE about 100% authentication. That was great to hear, at least honest. February is rolling to MArch and I'd like to ask the society to moderate a topic something like WHO HAS WHAT related to the variety of grape, willing to share with another gardeners. I think a $1,00 per cutting + shipping will not make such opportunity a spooky deal.
The Sweet Seduction vine I ordered from One Green World (OGW) arrived two days ago. I was impressed with the packaging and how healthy the vine was when it arrived, but again reading some your comments I am curious if I have the real SS. The leaves seems to be coarse and dark green and pointy which leads me to believe that it's an American variety and thus with labrusca flavor. I do not want to spend 3 to 4 years growing this thing and find out it's not the real thing.
I have an Interlaken, a Black Monukka, A Thompson seedless and my Favorite of all "Askari" from Central Asia - All white table grapes. So again the reason I ordered SS was to add to my list white seedless table grapes.
I have two questions:
Is SS an original variety or a hybrid?
Does anyone have new information if OGW is selling the real SS these days?
Thanks for your replies.
[quote="westabq":1nlpu7qp]Is SS an original variety or a hybrid?
Does anyone have new information if OGW is selling the real SS these days?
Thanks for your replies.[/quote:1nlpu7qp]
I have heard that OGW is not selling the real deal. But perhaps they have fixed it?? Maybe a call to their office manager for product history, etc would help clear that up. I am not interested in "fixing" their problem really, as I have the real deal from Bill himself.
Next winter I can mail you some cuttings or even a plantlet if you are unable to get it cleared up and still feel like you have an imposter.
Not sure what definition of "original variety" is, but is is definetely the work of some grape hybridizers at a state university.
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