Term (also wine grape) for those grapes from vines that are used for the production of wine or spirits such as brandy(Armagnac, Cognac, Metaxa etc.) and even vodka (together around 85% worldwide). Other groups are table grapes (table grapes) and sultanas. There are around 8,000 to 10,000 different grape varieties worldwide, whereby the morphology such as leaf shape, bunch shape (shouldered wedge shape, unshouldered cylindrical shape), texture and colour of the berries are characteristic of the respective variety.

Vegetation cycle

The vine develops the grape cluster during the annual vegetation cycle. As a rule, the grapes are harvested at the optimum physiological ripeness, which is a prerequisite for high quality. For Prädikat wines such as Spätlese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese or Eiswein, this takes place much later because a special grape condition is required. In Austria and Germany in particular, a certain degree of sugar in the grapes during the harvest is an important criterion for the subsequent wine quality level (see under must weight).

Grape = panicle

Strictly speaking, the term "grape" is actually incorrect, as a grape only has secondary stems without branches. The correct botanical term is panicle. Grapes are non-climacteric fruit, which means that they do not ripen after harvesting. The size, number of berries and weight of a bunch of grapes, as well as the number of grapes and the resulting yield per vine vary and depend on the grape variety, pruning, vine training, weather conditions, wine quality and wine type.

Quantity of grapes for a bottle of wine

The quantity of grapes required to produce a 0.75 litre bottle of wine depends on several factors. These are primarily the grape variety and the winemaking methods. The fluctuation ranges of the values listed in the table are relatively large; the quantities given are average values. The number of berries per bunch of some classic grape varieties was determined in a study conducted over several years by the Weinsberg Wine Institute.

• for quality wine grape varieties, one berry weighs only 1 to 2 grams (see also below)
• as a rule, 1 kg of grapes yields between 0.6 and 0.8 litres of must
• around 10 to 20% of the volume is lost during the fermentation process and other methods (e.g. clarification, filtration)
• around 1.2 to 1.5 kg of grapes are needed for a 0.75 litre bottle of wine