Grape
The grape is the berry of woody vines in the genus Vitis. It is the fruit behind wine and its many descendants: sparkling, fortified, and aromatized wines, grape brandies, and unfermented grape juice. Its high natural sugar and the wild yeasts on its skin make it unusually well suited to fermentation. It is also one of the most important fruits in non-alcoholic drinks, including juices, sacramental substitutes for wine, sour verjuice, and dealcoholized wines.
How grape is prepared
Most of the world's grape crop goes to wine. That includes still, sparkling, dessert, and fortified styles, as well as brandies and pomace spirits. In the no- and low-alcohol category, grapes supply pasteurized red and white juices, sparkling grape juices, mustum for sacramental use, dealcoholized wines, and verjuice for tart mixed drinks. They also go into non-alcoholic punches modeled on sangria.
Removing moisture from an ingredient. This term alone does not specify the use of heat.
Listed among the botanical extracts and infusions.[9]
Listed among the botanical extracts and infusions.[9]
Sius uses Dried Grapes in Purpur, built from Grape.[10]
Weingut Lukas Krauß uses Dried Grapes in Napa, built from Grape.[11]
A general process that transfers soluble flavor and aroma compounds from a source material into a liquid extract.
Tempera uses Grape Extract in PYRA: compounds drawn out of grapes into an extract.[12]
Tempera uses Grape Extract in TIERRA: compounds drawn out of grapes into an extract.[13]
Fermentation with a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) that contributes bright acidity.
Weingut Graf Hardegg uses Grape Kombucha in EMBRIZZO Rosé: a grape base fermented with a kombucha culture (SCOBY).[14][15]
Fermentation by lactic-acid bacteria, which convert sugars into lactic acid for a clean, savory acidity.
Cul Sec uses Lacto-Fermented Grapes in L'étable Fumé: grapes fermented by lactic acid bacteria.[16]
Other preparations
Regional grapes.[17]
Chalu uses Grape Juice in Hibiscus Noir: juice pressed from grapes, unfermented; the grape colour is not specified.[18]
Service signal Works as a liquid component.
Copenhagen Sparkling Tea Company uses Grape Juice in Sparkling Tea BLÅ: juice pressed from grapes, unfermented; the grape colour is not specified.[19]
Service signal Works as a liquid component.
Copenhagen Sparkling Tea Company uses Grape Juice in Sparkling Tea LYSERØD: juice pressed from grapes, unfermented; the grape colour is not specified.[20]
Service signal Works as a liquid component.
Domaine des Grottes uses Grape Juice in Antidote: juice pressed from grapes, unfermented; the grape colour is not specified.[21]
Service signal Works as a liquid component.
Domaine des Grottes uses Grape Juice in Antilope: juice pressed from grapes, unfermented; the grape colour is not specified.[22]
Service signal Works as a liquid component.
Empress uses Grape Juice in Brut: juice pressed from grapes, unfermented; the grape colour is not specified.[23]
Service signal Works as a liquid component.
Flein uses Grape Juice in Flein Fizz Rosé 2025: juice pressed from grapes, unfermented; the grape colour is not specified.[24][25]
Service signal Works as a liquid component.
Gnista uses Grape Juice in Crisp: juice pressed from grapes, unfermented; the grape colour is not specified.[9]
Service signal Works as a liquid component.
Gnista uses Grape Juice in French Red Wine Alternative: juice pressed from grapes, unfermented; the grape colour is not specified.[9]
Service signal Works as a liquid component.
Gnista uses Grape Juice in Funky Orange Wine Alternative: juice pressed from grapes, unfermented; the grape colour is not specified.[9]
Service signal Works as a liquid component.
Gnista uses Grape Juice in Italian Red Wine Alternative: juice pressed from grapes, unfermented; the grape colour is not specified.[9]
Service signal Works as a liquid component.
OMAFRIDA uses Grape Juice in OMAFRIDA Cuvée N°002: juice pressed from grapes, unfermented; the grape colour is not specified.[26]
Service signal Works as a liquid component.
Pettersson & Munthe uses Grape Juice in Green Tea Rhubarb: juice pressed from grapes, unfermented; the grape colour is not specified.[27]
Service signal Works as a liquid component.
Pettersson & Munthe uses Grape Juice in Lavender Chai: juice pressed from grapes, unfermented; the grape colour is not specified.[28]
Service signal Works as a liquid component.
SAVEUR DRINKS uses Grape Juice in Apricot – Salty Lemon: juice pressed from grapes, unfermented; the grape colour is not specified.[29]
Service signal Works as a liquid component.
SAVEUR DRINKS uses Grape Juice in Sparkling White Tea-Bergamotte: juice pressed from grapes, unfermented; the grape colour is not specified.[30]
Service signal Works as a liquid component.
SAVEUR DRINKS uses Grape Juice Concentrate in White Tea-Bergamotte: grape juice reduced to a concentrate; the grape colour is not specified.[31]
Service signal Works as a liquid component.
SAVEUR DRINKS uses Grape Juice in Yuzu – Elderflower: juice pressed from grapes, unfermented; the grape colour is not specified.[32]
Service signal Works as a liquid component.
Weingut Graf Hardegg uses Grape Juice in EMBRIZZO White: juice pressed from grapes, unfermented; the grape colour is not specified.[15]
Service signal Works as a liquid component.
Weingut Robert Herbst uses Grape Juice in MQT (Minze Quitte Traube): juice pressed from grapes, unfermented; the grape colour is not specified.[33]
Service signal Works as a liquid component.
Müller-Thurgau grapes.[34]
In depth
Origins in the Caucasus and Near East
People were making drinks from grapes long before written records. Wild grapes carry yeast on their skins, so crushed fruit left in a vessel will begin fermenting almost unaided, and early people probably discovered wine this way. The oldest chemical traces of wine, dated to around 6000 BCE, come from sites near Tbilisi in present-day Georgia. Georgian winemakers still ferment and age wine in large buried clay jars called kvevri, a method that recalls these early practices. In neighboring Armenia, the Areni-1 cave holds the oldest known winery, dated to roughly 4100 BCE. It contains evidence of pressing grapes and storing the juice in jars. From this Caucasian and Near Eastern heartland, both vine growing and wine drinking spread south and west.[1]
The ancient Mediterranean and sun-dried grape wines
Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans all grew grapes for eating and for wine. Phoenician and Greek traders carried wine culture around the Mediterranean, and Rome later spread it to Gaul and beyond. One distinctive ancient technique was to dry grapes in the sun before pressing them. This concentrated their sugar and produced rich, sweet wines. The Greek poet Hesiod advised leaving harvested grapes out for days before making wine, and Pliny the Elder described similar raisin wines. Cyprus preserves this tradition in Commandaria, an amber dessert wine made from sun-dried local grapes. Its name dates to the crusader period, when a military order controlled the estate that produced it. Commandaria is often called the oldest named wine still in production.[2]
Persia, Shiraz, and the Islamic world
Persia had a long and celebrated wine culture. By the 9th century CE, the city of Shiraz was renowned for some of the finest wines in the region. Later European travelers described white Shiraz wines made in two styles: a dry wine for drinking young, and a sweet wine for aging that they compared to old sherry. Persian poetry, including the quatrains attributed to Omar Khayyam, praised these wines. Under Islamic rule, grape growing continued but its drinks took different forms in many places. Unripe grapes were pressed into a sour juice known as husrum or verjuice, used as an acidic ingredient. Today alcohol production is prohibited in Iran, and the modern Shiraz grape of Australia and South Africa is simply Syrah, with no proven link to the Persian city.[3]
Medieval monasteries and the birth of sparkling wine
In medieval Europe, monasteries kept winemaking alive because wine was needed for the Eucharist. Over the centuries, monks planted vineyards in many regions that are still famous today. In the cool Champagne region of northeast France, grapes struggled to ripen, and the thin, acidic wines tended to start fermenting again in spring. At first, the resulting bubbles were considered a fault. Benedictine monks near Carcassonne are credited with an early deliberate sparkling wine in 1531, made by bottling wine before fermentation had finished. In 1662, an English scientist described adding sugar to finished wine to trigger a second fermentation. Stronger glass bottles eventually made that method practical. Champagne became associated with royalty and luxury, and was gradually made drier to suit British tastes. Sparkling wines are now made worldwide under names such as Cava, Prosecco, Sekt, and Crémant.[4]
Fortified wines of Iberia
In southern Spain, Phoenician and Roman winemaking around Jerez continued under Moorish rule, a period traditionally credited with introducing distillation to the region. Once distillation was available, wine could be strengthened with grape spirit. After Castile took the city in 1264, the wine now called sherry was exported across Europe, and by the late 16th century it had an exceptional reputation. Sherry is fortified after fermentation, so most styles are dry, from pale fino aged under a film of yeast to dark, oxidized oloroso. Sherry is also aged in a solera, a fractional system that blends young and old wines across rows of casks. In Portugal's Douro Valley, wine for port is instead fortified partway through fermentation. This leaves the wine sweet and strong. Port became a British favorite after the 1703 Methuen Treaty cut import duties.[5]
Temperance and the rise of grape juice
North America had many native grape species, but early European colonists considered them poor for winemaking. In the 19th century, the Concord grape was bred from wild Vitis labrusca in Massachusetts. Its bold, foxy flavor later made it the standard grape for purple juice, while the Niagara variety became common for white juice. In 1869, a New Jersey physician and dentist who supported temperance applied pasteurization to grape juice. Heating the juice killed its yeast and stopped fermentation, producing an unfermented 'wine' for communion. As the temperance movement grew, grape juice became a symbolic replacement for wine at official functions and aboard US naval ships. Several Protestant denominations, notably Baptists and Methodists, adopted it for the Eucharist. The Catholic Church permits preserved unfermented juice called mustum in certain cases, and Jewish law allows grape juice for Sabbath blessings.[6]
Punches and mixed wine drinks
Wine has long been mixed with fruit, sugar, and spice. In medieval León, people made a 'wine lemonade' with wine, citrus, sugar, and spices, and it is still drunk in Castile and León during Holy Week. The related drink sangaree was popular in the Caribbean and colonial America, and sangria, a red wine punch with chopped fruit, became closely identified with Spain and Portugal. EU law now reserves the name 'sangria' for versions made in those two countries. Variations include white-wine sangria, sparkling sangria, and simpler mixtures such as tinto de verano, red wine lengthened with a soda. There is also an alcohol-free children's punch, ponche de sangria. It replaces the wine with a soft drink and uses grapes, berries, and other fruit for color, showing how easily the grape-and-fruit punch format adapts to zero-proof serving.[7]
Global production and modern low- and no-alcohol uses
Colonists carried European grapes to Mexico, Peru, Chile, South Africa, California, Australia, and New Zealand. In the late 19th century, the root louse phylloxera destroyed most European vineyards, which had to be replanted on resistant American rootstocks. Today China, Italy, France, the United States, and Spain lead global grape production. Most of the crop is still made into wine, with smaller shares eaten fresh or dried. Alongside conventional wine, the grape now anchors a large alcohol-free market. That market includes pasteurized and concentrated juices, carbonated sparkling grape juices, and dealcoholized wines that have their alcohol removed after fermentation. Verjuice pressed from unripe grapes has also found new use as a tart, wine-like base for non-alcoholic cocktails. Across all of these, the qualities that made grapes the ancient world's favorite fermenting fruit carry over: abundant sugar, bright acidity, and aromatic skins.[8]
References
- [1]EncyclopediaWine — Wikipedia↑§1
- [2]EncyclopediaCommandaria — Wikipedia↑§2
- [3]EncyclopediaShiraz wine — Wikipedia↑§3
- [4]EncyclopediaChampagne — Wikipedia↑§4
- [5]EncyclopediaSherry — Wikipedia↑§5
- [6]EncyclopediaGrape juice — Wikipedia↑§6
- [7]EncyclopediaSangria — Wikipedia↑§7
- [8]EncyclopediaGrape — Wikipedia↑§8
- [9]Producerhttps://gnistaspirits.com/pages/product-information↑prepared↑prepared↑prepared↑prepared
- [10]Product informationSIUS Purpur: alkoholfreier Wein Proxy aus Österreich | kein&low↑prepared
- [11]Product informationnapa↑prepared
- [12]ProducerPyra (drinktempera.com)↑prepared
- [13]ProducerBold Alcohol Free Set (drinktempera.com)↑prepared
- [14]Product informationALKOHOLFREI - Gut Hardegg↑prepared↑prepared
- [15]FeatureEmbrizzo vom Weingut Graf Hardegg: Wegen Erfolgs verdoppelt - Wirtshausführer↑prepared↑prepared
- [16]Product informationL’etable Fumé | Alcoholvrij Oranje Alternatief - Fruitslagers↑prepared
- [17]Producer2025 Loewenzahntraube (docknertom.at)↑prepared↑prepared
- [18]Producerhttps://chaludrinks.com/↑prepared
- [19]ProducerAge Verification - Sparkling Tea↑prepared↑prepared
- [20]Producerhttps://sparklingtea.co/products/sparkling-tea-lyserod/↑prepared↑prepared
- [21]Product informationL'antidote (0%) – Dieu du Vin↑prepared
- [22]Product informationAntilope – Jus de fruits et tisane de plante 0 %alc | Antidote, Antilope, et vins bio du domaine des Grottes↑prepared
- [23]Product informationEmpress Brut - Vinmonopolet↑prepared
- [24]Product informationFlein Fizz Rosé 2025 - Flein↑prepared
- [25]Producerflein.net↑prepared
- [26]Product informationOMAFRIDA - N°OO2 - ALCOHOL-FREE SPARKLING – Pinard↑prepared
- [27]Product informationGreen Tea Rhubarb - Pettersson & Munthe Non alcoholic Sparkling Tea↑prepared↑prepared
- [28]Producerhttps://petterssonmunthe.com/products/winter-sparkling-tea/↑prepared
- [29]ProducerApricot Salty Lemon (saveur-drinks.de)↑prepared
- [30]Product informationSparkling White Tea-Bergamotte - Saveur Drinks | VINELLO↑prepared
- [31]ProducerWhite Tea Bergamotte 075l (saveur-drinks.de)↑prepared
- [32]ProducerYuzu Elderflower (saveur-drinks.de)↑prepared
- [33]ProducerMqt Minze Quitte Traube Bio 0 74 Liter (robertherbst.at)↑prepared
- [34]ProducerAlcohol Free Sparkling White (wildidol.com)↑prepared