Old arbor

The University of Georgia operates the oldest breeding program in the United States dedicated to the improvement of the muscadine grape. Started in 1909, the UGA program has released over 30 cultivars.

Goals of the program include:

  • the development of new cultivars that combine large berry size with perfect flowers
  • earlier and later harvest dates
  • berries with dry stem scars and edible skins
  • increased cold hardiness



Information for Home and Commercial Growers on Available Muscadine Cultivars:

Muscadine Grape Budget 

(prepared by the UGA Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics)




Winegrowers of Georgia CAES News
UGA’s Winegrowers of Georgia student internships provide hands-on experience in state vineyards
The blueberries were suffering. It was the summer of 2022, and Amelia Lyons was working at Sweet Acre Farms, a Georgia vineyard specializing in fruit wines. While Lyons was fixing the vineyard’s irrigation for a dry summer, she noticed that small, dark red spots had appeared on the blueberries. While searching for a solution, she came across a peer-reviewed paper from the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences that addressed the exact disease she was trying to treat.
Grapes grow under protective netting at Stonewall Creek Vineyards in Tiger, Georgia, a host of CAES' Winegrowers of Georgia Internship. (Photo by Chamberlain Smith/UGA) CAES News
UGA Extension welcomes new viticulture specialist
Georgia’s steadily growing wine industry has a new advocate with the hire of a new University of Georgia Cooperative Extension viticulture specialist to support the more than 85 vineyards throughout the state. Sarah Lowder joined the Department of Horticulture in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences this spring as the state viticulturist, a position dedicated to providing the best methods for the cultivation and harvest of wine grapes in Georgia.
Tiger Mountain Winery CAES News
UGA Extension helps burgeoning Georgia crop industries bear fruit
When Cassandra and Gary Wiseman bought 185 acres of land in rural Jackson County, Georgia, they envisioned preserving the land through sustainable forestry stewardship. Over the next decade, they recognized the abundance of naturally growing muscadine vines throughout the property. This bounty ultimately sparked the dream of operating a vineyard and winery on the property.