Concord grapes are the most popularly planted native American grapes. Concord grapes are used to make wines, jellies, jams, and tarts. A variety of Vitis Labrusca, the Concord Grape is resistant to many of the diseases which destroy the European grape, Vitis Vinifera; they were the first onto which Vinifera cuttings were grafted to combat insects and disease and the first to be successfully cross-pollenated with European stock to produce hybrids. Most notable of these hybrids are French-American, but crossings were also made with German, Spanish, Portugese, Lowlands, and Baltic grapes. The resulting vines are hardy and produce good yields.
The Concord, however -- even its hybrids -- rarely contain the high amount of natural sugar that pure Vinifera varieties contain. They also contain more pectin and acid, and their wines may exude a musky aroma disagreeable to some. For these reasons their juice is always reinforced with added sugar, almost always diluted with water to balance the acid, treated with pectic enzyme to ensure that it clears, and may be flavored slightly with certain aromatic herbs or spices to counter the natural muskiness.
