What’s the Difference Between Grapes and Wine Grapes?
Prospero Winery & Grapes is proud to be celebrating 50 years in the winemaking and home winemaking business. We are a family-owned business located in Pleasantville, New York. Below, we’ll take a look at the difference between grapes and wine grapes. Visit us in person, shop online, or contact us today!
Varieties
There are hundreds of different types of grapes in the world. However, the main difference between table grapes and wine grapes is the skin-to-seed-to-pulp ratio of each variety, giving them their unique attributes. Grapes have been cultivated for hundreds and thousands of years to have different characteristics, flavors, and texture that give them the unique flavor that you love.
Skin Thickness
The thickness between table grapes and wine grapes differs. The skin of wine grapes is thicker, adding more flavor to wine, including tannins (they provide texture, structure, and balance to wine). This also delivers a more robust color, especially when it comes to red wine. The thin skin of table wines makes them easy to chew.
Sweetness
Wine grapes are significantly sweeter than table grapes, having more sugar inside them. This sugar is super important during the fermentation stage of winemaking, which brings out more flavor than table grapes would and adds alcoholic content. Wine grapes are harvested much later in the season, which allows these sugars to grow in concentration levels.
Size
Wine grapes are bred to be smaller in size, which yields a much more concentrated taste than table grapes. Plus, fewer wine grapes grow on a vine, allowing the vine to put more energy into each grape than table grapes, ensuring each and every wine grape produces high-quality wine. Table grapes are larger and contain more water, which is what makes them great to eat and healthy, too.
Yield
Table grapes are meant to have a higher yield than wine grapes. In the world of winemaking, you want your vines to produce less grapes. Vineyards that produce low amounts of grapes often yield a fuller flavor and the grapes are more concentrated. This also plays into the price of wine. Wines with low yields are considered more flavorful and therefore are more expensive than others.
PARTNER WITH PROSPERO WINERY & GRAPES TODAY
For 50 years, Prospero Winery & Grapes has been helping home winemakers by supplying the winemaking equipment they need to create robust and flavorful wines right at home. We also offer our great-tasting wines to you. We only use the best grapes sourced from responsible vineyards. Our local vineyard also offers our best-selling wine to commercial businesses by selling grapes, wine, and juice in bulk. Our mission is to continue to provide wonderful wine and winemaking equipment to our customers for another 50 years. To get started, contact us today!