Usually table
and wine grapes are quite distinct, with most table varieties unsuitable for
wine-making and most wine grapes having too tough a skin for serving as is. Of
course there are exceptions with the Muscat family of grapes being the most
familiar ones. Yet those who have followed this blog will sometimes see a grape
being mentioned as also sold for the table, or words to that effect. Examples
include Chasselas and recently
Trollinger. I am however "inspired" to write this entry because I
have found someone making wine with the above grape - Kyoho. No, it's not by an
eccentric Japanese (at least not in Japan), as the wine comes from Australia!
Wine grapes are higher in sugar (nearly 25% by weight) when ripe, and have thicker and tougher skins which contain the flavourings and colour essential for red wine production. Table grapes are less sugary (15% by weight) and have thinner skins and smaller seeds. Some may even be bred seedless. The lower sugar means the resultant wine will have lower alcohol whilst the thinner skins and smaller or non-existent seeds will deprive the wine of many interesting flavour and colour compounds. That has not stopped some winemakers from using say Thompson Seedless/Sultana in making wine (either alone or in a blend). Kyoho has an additional disadvantage - being a vinifera-labrusca hybrid it has the distinctive "foxy" aroma, which whilst much appreciated by Japanese consumers of table grapes, is shunned by wine drinkers. Now all I need is to get a bottle and taste it!
Wine grapes are higher in sugar (nearly 25% by weight) when ripe, and have thicker and tougher skins which contain the flavourings and colour essential for red wine production. Table grapes are less sugary (15% by weight) and have thinner skins and smaller seeds. Some may even be bred seedless. The lower sugar means the resultant wine will have lower alcohol whilst the thinner skins and smaller or non-existent seeds will deprive the wine of many interesting flavour and colour compounds. That has not stopped some winemakers from using say Thompson Seedless/Sultana in making wine (either alone or in a blend). Kyoho has an additional disadvantage - being a vinifera-labrusca hybrid it has the distinctive "foxy" aroma, which whilst much appreciated by Japanese consumers of table grapes, is shunned by wine drinkers. Now all I need is to get a bottle and taste it!
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