Major Differences: Table Grapes vs Wine Grapes
Sweetness
Standard eating grapes have a Brix level of 17-19, whereas wine grapes are closer to 24-26 Brix at harvest. Brix is the scale to measure percentage of sugar in a liquid.
Table Grapes Are Fat and Sassy
Table grapes are grown in a way to make them more physically appealing. They are larger, seedless, with thicker pulp and thinner skins to give them that ideal ‘pop’ when you eat them. Table grapes have less acidity and also less sugar than a wine grape.
Wine Grapes Are Lean and Mean Wine grapes are grown to produce the sweetest and most potent grapes. They are smaller, riddled with seeds, have thicker skins and higher juice content (vs. pulp). Wine grapes are delicate and difficult to transport. When you eat a fresh wine grape they ooze apart leaving you with crunchy bitter seeds and chewy grape skin.
Seedless grapes are easier to eat but they are less flavorful than seeded table grape varieties.
Most commonly cultivated grapes are Vitis vinifera
About 90% of cultivated grapes in the world are Vitis vinifera. Vitis vinifera is commonly called The European grapevine which has ancestral roots in Iran. It includes wine grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon and table grapes like Red Globe grapes.
The Wine Grape Family Tree
Table grapes and wine grapes are related to one another through their genus Vitis. There are more than 70 different species that are within the Vitis genus including the most common, Vitis vinifera, to the more ornamental, Vitis californica. All wine grapes are Vitis vinifera. There is now documented proof of 40 species of grapes indigenous to China.
