I’m sure there are a lot of questions about wine grapes and table grapes. What’s the difference between the varieties of grapes used by wineries to make wine and our everyday table grapes? Are the grapes bought on the market the same as those grown in wineries? Can grapes bought on the market really be used to make wine?

Today, we will clarify the difference between winemaking grapes and table grapes!

Different origins

It is said that long before the emergence of mankind, there have been grapes on the earth, and so far there have been tens of thousands of varieties, among these tens of thousands of varieties of grapes, there are only about 50 kinds of grapes suitable for brewing, and these varieties suitable for brewing are almost all from Europe.

In contrast to wine grapes, grapes that are normally eaten as fruit are mostly American varieties, with more than 80% of grapes cultivated in Japan being table grapes, and more than 80% of grapes cultivated in Europe being wine grapes.

Differences in Appearance

Wine grapes are much smaller than table grapes, usually with more compact clusters. Wines made from smaller grapes tend to have more intense flavors, and their skins are thicker. Wine grapes are naturally very heavily pigmented, allowing enough color and tannins to be extracted from the skins to make wine.

Table grapes are larger and thinner-skinned, usually about twice the size of wine grapes. They are easier to eat, more juicy and more flavorful, but of course more water means less sugar.

Differences in taste

Wine grapes have a lot of seeds, so that on average, half of a 1-centimeter-sized grape is filled with seeds. The water inside tastes like a thick pulp. In addition, the flesh is small and not sweet, and some even taste bitter, and the skins are hard to chew. Not as flavorful as fresh grapes.

We usually eat grapes with rich water, thick flesh, thin skin and small seeds, however, wines made from fresh grapes are not very good, due to their lack of sugar and pigmentation, lack of complexity in aroma, and more water, the wines made will be flat and tasteless.

Differences in sweetness

Many people think that table grapes are sweeter than wine grapes, but the opposite is true. Wine grapes are more concentrated and have much higher sugar and acidity than fresh grapes, and when the grapes are ripe, the winemaker must wait until the grapes are at least 22% of their sugar content before harvesting them.

Many people will misunderstand: wine grapes taste sour and astringent, not as sweet as fresh grapes, it should be the sugar content of fresh grapes is higher, right? The main reason for this misunderstanding is that the higher acidity of wine grapes masks part of the sweetness; at the same time, wine grapes have deep skins, high tannin content, and a heavier bitter taste, which also masks part of the sweetness.

Vines are different

Edible vines have a lifespan of about 10 to 30 years and need to be watered regularly. Grapes used for winemaking have a lifespan of about 60 years, and some can grow for more than 100 years, and usually can’t be watered, so it’s very lucky for winemakers if the yield of each vine reaches about 9 pounds.

Of course, if winemakers are looking for top-quality wines, they’ll want the vines to yield a little less. In contrast, growers of table grapes tend to use trellises to grow their grapes, where the bunches are not in contact with each other, and yields can reach about 27 pounds.

Why home winemaking is discouraged

Home-brewed wines are generally made from table grapes, unlike the thicker-skinned, darker-colored wine grapes used in industrial production. The polyphenol antioxidants and sugar levels in the skins of table grapes are not as high as those of wine grapes, and in order to achieve a certain level of alcohol content, additional sugar can only be added, which greatly reduces the flavor and health benefits of the finished wine.

Home-brewed wine often lacks the closed-cycle fermentation system that strictly controls the temperature in industrial production, and it is also less likely to sterilize the grape juice and containers before fermentation, which makes it harder to effectively prevent contamination by stray bacteria, and is prone to producing harmful substances.

In addition, compared to industrial production with the addition of winemaking yeast, home winemaking only utilizes the natural yeast of the grapes, which may not only produce off-flavors, but also fail to ferment the glucose completely, resulting in wines that are not sufficiently high in alcohol content to inhibit the growth of stray bacteria, which increases the risk of deterioration, and the shelf-life is very limited.