By PAT NEWMAN
Staff Writer

Just outside Brooks on Ga. Highway 16, there is a modest fruit stand fronting the Ison's family vineyard of muscadine grapes. Every season, Leola Ison Hugeley sells between 300 and 400 boxes a week to motorists passing by who want fresh fruit or culls, the overripe grapes or those stung by bees, to make wine.

“Everybody who stops, has their own recipe, and it's the best,” she says, of the amateur wine makers.

“We sell probably half to three quarters of our fruit right here,” Hugeley added.

But the real story behind the Ison's Nursery and Vineyard stretches over 102 acres in neighboring Spalding County and across the world's continents, where growers have planted more than 40 different varieties of Ison's patented muscadines.

In 1934, Grady Ison started the vineyard, which was taken over by his son, W. G. Ison in 1964. W. G. enlarged the growing space and successfully bred and crossbred the current 23 bestselling varieties and developed the mail-order business which ships fresh fruit and approximately 150,000 plants worldwide. After his death in 1995, the Ison children have taken over the daily operations of the business.

With a bestselling grape named after her, Janet McClure, one of the three daughters, is the most involved. In addition to handling the grapes, she also created seasonal “visits to the country” for school groups, where children can come and take a hayride, pet the animals and feed the fish at the old farm pond. Janet's husband Carlton, an Air Force veteran, handles public relations and gives tours of the various vineyards.

Last week, he showcased the vineyard which produces the black scuppernong, Supreme. Plus the more exotic grapes like the Pineapple Muscadine and the Fry Seedless Muscadine.

The grapes are naturally concealed by the leafy growth of the vines and McClure has to reach in under the shoulder-high plants to pull out a bunch of the fruit, which glisten in the bright sun.

Taste is everything, and the Supreme is every bit of its name, succulent and sweet. The Pineapple, named by W. G. Ison, is golden and tangy. The Fry Seedless is tiny and sweet. The grapes are all nearly picked, ending a three-month harvest which starts around the middle of August. In January and February, the vines are pruned back and the old growth is cut away. The grapes bloom on the new growth, according to the Isons.

“It's not a crop you have to work with constantly,” Leola has observed. Her son-in-law, McClure, said a plant will produce grapes for up to 20 years, with a drop-off rate occurring at about 15 years. “Each vine will produce about 130 pounds of grapes,” he said.

The clay in Georgia's soil is actually beneficial to grapes, Leola said, giving them a sweet taste. During the growing season, water is essential, with plants taking in about 36 gallons daily.

The season will end in about a week, so get your grapes while you can by visiting the Ison's Vineyard on Hwy. 16 or call them at 770-599-6970. Take the Ga. Highway 85 Connector from its intersection at Starr's Mill on Hwy. 85 through Brooks to its intersection with Hwy. 16 south of Brooks. Turn east on Hwy. 16; Ison's Vineyard is on the left as you drive eastbound.