The first muscadine wine I ever tried was called Cou Rouge Rosé, i.e.,”redneck rosé,” from Perdido Vineyards near the Alabama coast. It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t good. It was kind of what I expected: sweet, with that smell. That special grape smell. That grape smell that puts one in mind of, oh, I don’t know, peanut butter?

Wines made from native American grape varieties — whether Vitis labruscana (Concord grapes) or Vitis rotundifolia (muscadines) — all tend to smell just a little bit like Welch’s grape jelly. It is there. It is unavoidable. And if you’re ever going to make peace with muscadine wines, you have to get used to it.

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John Kessler writes food features and a column about food and more for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution E-mail John Kessler Recent Kessler columns Atlanta food expert explains the science behind her recipes  Wok tales aside, real yen is for deep-fried Chinese  How to plan your Thanksgiving dinner         More John Kessler Related: Thanksgiving recipes Atlanta Holiday Guide AJC Food & Drink Evening Edge Atlanta Restaurant reviews and search Recipes from Atlanta restaurants Favorite Atlanta recipes

In wine-tasting lingo there’s even a special name for this characteristic, which is “foxy.” Open up a wine publication that deigns to rate a muscadine wine, and the writer will not resist referencing the “typical foxy aromas.”

When I hear foxy, I think of a woman in a gold lamé unitard hanging off Shaft’s arm (R.I.P., Isaac Hayes). But wine tasters think of that ultimate purple smell. Remember the old Welch’s ad? The one with the jam-pot steam going through a glass loop-de-loop back into the lid so that none of the flavor escapes? That ad was a worshipful paean to foxiness.

So what causes this strong smell and accompanying flavor? The primary compound is called methyl anthranilate, and though it is in higher concentration in Concord grapes, there’s plenty in muscadines, along with other volatile esters that are as attention-grabbing as that gold lamé.

Atlanta wine expert Jane Garvey, writing in the Atlanta Wine School newsletter, recommends an assertive food pairing, such as barbecue or blue-veined cheese. I’m not sure I’d pair a dinner around it, but I’ve found that muscadine wine makes for a fun aperitif or even a cocktail when mixed with a shot of vodka and a dash of bitters.

There are also some pretty good muscadine wines out there, which, as you know, are not all sweet. The off-dry Magnolia from Duplin Winery in Rose Hill, N.C., is by far the best I’ve tried, with a teasing complexity that emerges from its balance of sweetness and acidity.

And there is that smell that greets you before anything else, but you adapt. Even learn to like.

Can ya dig it?