GRAPES
Grapes are one of the most widely grown and eaten fruits in the world. They grow on vines and are rich in sugar and are sources of vitamin B and iron Botanically, grapes are berries from deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus Vitis. Grapes are a non-climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters containing between 15 and 300 fruits.
Grapes are eaten fresh, dried, or cooked and are processed into a wide variety of foods and beverages, including wine, grape juice, jams, jellies, vinegar, and grape seed oil. Commercial grape production is generally divided into two categories: table grapes, which are grown for fresh consumption, and wine grapes, which are grown for winemaking. Table grapes are usually large, seedless, and have thin skins that make them suitable for eating fresh. Wine grapes are generally smaller, contain seeds, and have thicker skins, which contribute much of the aroma, color, and flavor of wine. Wine grapes also have a higher sugar content and are harvested when they reach about 24 percent sugar by weight. Grapes used for commercial grape juice typically contain about 15 percent sugar by weight.
Dried grapes are commonly known as raisins. A raisin is any grape that has been dried naturally or artificially. In Britain and Ireland, raisins, currants, and sultanas are recognized as distinct types of dried grapes. Currants are dried Zante Black Corinth grapes, which produce small, dark, seedless fruits. The names blackcurrant and redcurrant for unrelated berry species were derived from their resemblance to these dried grapes. Sultanas were originally made from Sultana grapes of Turkish origin, known in the United States as Thompson Seedless. Today, the term is also used for raisins produced from other light-colored grapes and for some bleached red grapes.
Grape juice is produced by crushing grapes and extracting the liquid. It is sold as a beverage or used to produce wine, brandy, and vinegar through fermentation. Pasteurized grape juice does not ferment because the natural yeasts have been destroyed. In winemaking, freshly crushed grape juice that still contains pulp, skins, stems, and seeds is known as must. In North America, purple grape juice is commonly made from Concord grapes, while white grape juice is usually produced from Niagara grapes. In California, Thompson Seedless grapes are also widely used for white grape juice production.
Sour, unripe grapes are used in parts of the Middle East to produce verjuice (also called husrum), an acidic juice or vinegar. The grapes are crushed, and the juice is salted, heated, and stored before use. Verjuice is commonly added to salads, stuffed vegetables, and other dishes to provide acidity. In Iran, sour grape vinegar is also an important ingredient in Shirazi salad.
Grape Cultivation
Grape vines grow in variety of soils and climates and need less water than other crops but grow best in sandy, well-drained loans in sunny, warm locations. Grapes are rarely grown from seeds. Most often new plants are cuttings taken from mature vines or branches of a mature vine that have been forced down into the soil until they develop roots and then are cut from the mother plant. Sometimes cuttings are grafted onto rootstocks of vines.
As the vines develop they are regularly pruned and cut back to insure the high quality of the fruit. Pruning gets rid of branches with diseases such as the black rot. It also helps train the vines to grow on upright stakes and then on trellises. The vines are sprayed for insects or disease. Some vines remain productive from 200 to 400 years.
Grapes appear on the vines within a 60-day period after fertilisation, first producing tartaric acid and then, as their flesh increases in reaction to the ethylene hormone, malic acid. These acids give the berries a slightly sour taste in addition to their sweetness. When the young berries reach the ripening stage, called 'véraison' from the French language, they change to darker colours, increase in size and produce sugars. This 'véraison' period begins in August and takes around 45 days under normal conditions in the Northern Hemisphere. Ripe grape berries are typically ellipsoid in shape, resembling a prolate spheroid. Their flesh is 75–85% water, which is obtained from the plant's xylem before ripening. Following the ripening stage, the phloem supplies water containing the soluble sugars glucose and fructose. [Source: Wikipedia]
Types of Grapes
The varieties of grapes used for eating grapes are different from those used in producing wine. Many of the those used for eating come from the New World while many of those used for wine come from Old World varieties.
Most domesticated grapes come from cultivars of Vitis vinifera, a grapevine native to the Mediterranean and Central Asia. Minor amounts of fruit and wine come from American and Asian species such as: Vitis amurensis, the most important Asian species, and Vitis labrusca, the North American table and grape juice grapevines. [Source: Wikipedia]
Seedless cultivars now account for the vast majority of table grape plantings. As grapevines are propagated vegetatively by cuttings, the absence of seeds does not hinder reproduction. However, it is an issue for breeders, who must either use a seeded variety as the female parent or rescue embryos early in development using tissue culture techniques.
There are several sources of the seedlessness trait, and essentially all commercial cultivators obtain it from one of three sources: Thompson Seedless, Russian Seedless and Black Monukka, which are all cultivars of Vitis vinifera. There are currently more than a dozen varieties of seedless grapes. Several varieties, such as Einset Seedless, Benjamin Gunnels' Prime Seedless Grapes, Reliance and Venus, have been cultivated specifically for hardiness and quality in relatively cold climates, such as those found in the northeastern United States and southern Ontario.
Wine Grapes
Grapes during pigmentation The most well-known wine grape varieties are: 1) Pinot Noir (used in red Burgundy and Champagne); 2) Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec (all of which are used in making red Bordeaux); 3) Chardonnay and Aligoté (used in white Burgundy); and 4) Gamay grapes (used in Beaujolais).
Pinot Noir is oldest attested grape variety in Burgundy. It was referred toby the first century A.D. Roman writer Columella. Monks at the monastery in Cluny, the home of an abbey church only second in size to St. Peters in Rome, reportedly developed pinot noir and Chardonnay grapes.
Chardonnay grapes are considered one of the world's best wine-making grapes. It was thought for a long time that these grapes were a light skinned version of pinot noir. In 1999, scientist discovered that Chardonnay grapes are a cross between pinot and gouais, a variety of grapes considered so poor they are not even used in wine-making anymore.
Cabernet Sauvignon is perhaps the most esteemed red wine grape. It is a cross between the Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc grapes. Wines made from cross may not bear France's most prestigious label — "Appelation d' Origine Controlle." This slight seems to be somewhat outdated considering that some of the world’s best wines are made of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay grapes — both crosses.
Muscadet wine is made from Melon de Bourgogne grapes. This white wine often comes from vineyards around Nantes, where the Loire empties into the Atlantic. It is dry and goes well with seafood. Melon grapes de Bourgogne produce dry white wines in Alsace and sweet wines elsewhere. Riesling, Traminer and Tokay grapes are used in white wines. Chenein Blanc wines are sweet; Cabernet Franc grapes are used in best rosé wines.
See Separate Article: WINE BASICS, AND HOW WINE IS MADEfactsanddetails.com
History of Grapes
Grapes are one of the earliest crops known crops along with wheat, barley, various legumes, melons, dates, pistachios and almonds. Fossils of grapes dating back to 40 million years have been found all across the northern hemisphere. There are more than 40 known species of wild grape. Most of them are native to North America or east Asia. Only one species, “ vitis vinfera” , is native to Europe and southern Asia, and this is the source of most of the world's commercially-grown grapes.
Genetic analysis of ancient grape seeds has shown that some grape varieties grown by the Romans are closely related to varieties still used in French winemaking today. Because grapevines are usually propagated from cuttings rather than seeds, individual grape varieties can be maintained for hundreds or even thousands of years with little genetic change. [Source: AFP, 2019]
Historical records indicate that grape cultivation reached France during the 6th century B.C., when Greek settlers introduced vineyards to their colony of Massalia, now Marseille. To better understand the history of grape cultivation, researchers analyzed DNA from 28 grape seeds recovered from nine archaeological sites in France, some dating back about 2,500 years. They compared the ancient DNA with that of modern grape varieties to identify relationships between ancient and living vines.
The study found that the white grape variety Savagnin has been continuously cultivated for at least 900 years. A sample dating to about A.D. 1100 was genetically identical to modern Savagnin vines, which are used to produce the famous vin jaune of France's Jura region. Savagnin is also the parent variety of many well-known white grapes, including Chenin, Riesling, Grüner Veltliner, and Petit Manseng.
Researchers also found that Humagne Blanche, a grape now grown mainly in the Swiss Alps, is closely related to grapes cultivated in southern France during Roman times. Other famous varieties, including Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, also showed close genetic relationships to Roman-era grapes. These findings demonstrate that many important grape lineages have been preserved through repeated propagation by cuttings for centuries, linking modern vineyards directly to those of ancient Europe.
World's Earliest Grape Winemaking in Georgia
The earliest evidence of grape wine was found in clay pottery from Khramis Didi Gora, Georgia dated to to 6,000 B.C. Ashifa Kassam and Nicola Davis wrote in The Guardian: “A series of excavations in Georgia has uncovered evidence of the world’s earliest winemaking, in the form of telltale traces within clay pottery dating back to 6,000 B.C. – suggesting that the practice of making grape wine began hundreds of years earlier than previously believed. While there are thousands of cultivars of wine around the world, almost all derive from just one species of grape, with the Eurasian grape the only species ever domesticated. [Source: Ashifa Kassam and Nicola Davis, The Guardian, November 13, 2017 +/]
“Until now, the oldest jars known to have contained wine dated from 7,000 years ago, with six vessels containing the chemical calling cards of the drink discovered in the Zagros mountains in northern Iran in 1968. The latest find pushes back the early evidence for the tipple by as much as half a millennium. “When we pick up a glass of wine and put it to our lips and taste it we are recapitulating that history that goes back at least 8,000 years,” said Patrick McGovern a co-author of the study from the University of Pennsylvania museum of archaeology and anthropology, who also worked on the earlier Iranian discovery. +/
“The find comes after a team of archaeologists and botanists in Georgia joined forces with researchers in Europe and North America to explore two villages in the South Caucasus region, about 50km south of the capital Tbilisi. The sites offered a glimpse into a neolithic culture characterised by circular mud-brick homes, tools made of stone and bone and the farming of cattle, pigs, wheat and barley. Researchers were particularly intrigued by fired clay pots found in the region – likely to be some of the earliest pottery made in the Near East. Indeed, one representative jar from a nearby settlement is almost a metre tall and a metre wide, and could hold more than 300 litres. What’s more, it was decorated with blobs that the researchers say could be meant to depict clusters of grapes. +/
See Separate Article: EARLIEST WINES, WINEMAKING, WINERIES AND WINE GRAPES factsanddetails.com
Wine in Ancient Greece, Egypt and Rome
The only drinks that were available to the Greeks in antiquity were water, wine, milk, and fruit juice. Wine was far and away the main alcoholic drink. It was consumed with meals and at parties, regarded as sources of good conversation and extolled in poems and songs. Grape juice became wine quickly because there was no refrigeration or preservatives in ancient times.
Ancient Egyptian wine was made from a domesticated species of grape, “Vitis vinifera vinifera”. Early wine is believed to have been fermented by natural yeasts that blooms on the grape's skin. Some of it was sweetened with figs. Some of the best wines were produced in the Bahariya Oasis.
After water and milk, wine was the ordinary drink of the Romans of all classes. It must be distinctly understood, however, that they always mixed it with water and used more water than wine. Pliny the Elder mentions one wine that would stand being mixed with eight times its own bulk of water. To drink wine unmixed was thought typical of barbarism; wine was so drunk only by the dissipated at their wildest revels. Under the Empire the ordinary qualities of wine were cheap enough to be sold at three or four cents a quart; the choicer kinds were very costly, entirely beyond the reach, Horace gives us to understand, of a man in his circumstances. [Source: “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932) ]
See Separate Article:
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN DRINKS: BEER, WINE, MILK AND WATER africame.factsanddetails.com ;
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN WINE: TYPES, MAKING IT, VINEYARDS ioa.factsanddetails.com
WINE, DRINKING AND DRINKS IN ANCIENT GREECE europe.factsanddetails.com ;
WINE, DRINKS AND DRUGS IN ANCIENT ROME europe.factsanddetails.com
Grape Producing and Exporting Countries
World’s Largest Producing Countries of Grapes (2020): 1) China: 14769088 tonnes; 2) Italy: 8222360 tonnes; 3) Spain: 6817770 tonnes; 4) France: 5884230 tonnes; 5) United States: 5388679 tonnes; 6) Turkey: 4208908 tonnes; 7) India: 3125000 tonnes; 8) Chile: 2772561 tonnes; 9) Argentina: 2055746 tonnes; 10) South Africa: 2028185 tonnes; 11) Iran: 1990937 tonnes; 12) Uzbekistan: 1606942 tonnes; 13) Egypt: 1586342 tonnes; 14) Australia: 1474911 tonnes; 15) Brazil: 1435596 tonnes; 16) Germany: 1149540 tonnes; 17) Afghanistan: 993382 tonnes; 18) Romania: 932770 tonnes; 19) Portugal: 853380 tonnes; 20) Greece: 815790 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org. A tonne (or metric ton) is a metric unit of mass equivalent to 1,000 kilograms (kgs) or 2,204.6 pounds (lbs). A ton is an imperial unit of mass equivalent to 1,016.047 kilograms or 2,240 lbs.]
World’s Top Producers (in terms of value) of Grapes (2019): 1) China: Int.$12237858,000 ; 2) Italy: Int.$6768672,000 ; 3) United States: Int.$5340547,000 ; 4) Spain: Int.$4922592,000 ; 5) France: Int.$4703428,000 ; 6) Turkey: Int.$3512802,000 ; 7) India: Int.$2605471,000 ; 8) Chile: Int.$2314669,000 ; 9) Argentina: Int.$2158990,000 ; 10) South Africa: Int.$1707606,000 ; 11) Iran: Int.$1667236,000 ; 12) Egypt: Int.$1393348,000 ; 13) Uzbekistan: Int.$1373684,000 ; 14) Australia: Int.$1331097,000 ; 15) Brazil: Int.$1272570,000 ; 16) Germany: Int.$963879,000 ; 17) Afghanistan: Int.$953535,000 ; 18) Romania: Int.$834496,000 ; 19) Portugal: Int.$739590,000 [An international dollar (Int.$) buys a comparable amount of goods in the cited country that a U.S. dollar would buy in the United States.]
Top Producing Countries of Grapes in 2008 (Production, $1000; metric tons): 1) Italy, 3615312 , 7793301; 2) China, 3356620 , 7235656; 3) United States of America, 3080258 , 6639920; 4) Spain, 2792678 , 6020000; 5) France, 2627620 , 5664195; 6) Turkey, 1817764 , 3918440; 7) Argentina, 1345310 , 2900000; 8) Chile, 1113360 , 2400000; 9) Australia, 907754 , 1956790; 10) South Africa, 831143 , 1791643; 11) Iran, 806955 , 1739503; 12) India, 804866 , 1735000; 13) Egypt, 710424 , 1531418; 14) Germany, 662809 , 1428776; 15) Brazil, 659401 , 1421431; 16) Romania, 462055 , 996023; 17) Greece, 395660 , 852900; 18) Uzbekistan, 366944 , 791000; 19) Portugal, 353955 , 763000; 20) Republic of Moldova, 294814 , 635513;
The top 5 grape producers in the 1980s (millions of tones per year): 1) Italy (9.3); 2) France (7.0); 3) the former USSR (5.4); 4) Spain (5.1); 5) the United States (4.8). Turkey and Algeria are also major growers.
Grape Exporting and Importing Countries
World’s Top Exporters of Grapes (2020): 1) Chile: 604040 tonnes; 2) Italy: 454688 tonnes; 3) China: 424919 tonnes; 4) Peru: 415297 tonnes; 5) Netherlands: 359406 tonnes; 6) United States: 354185 tonnes; 7) South Africa: 324883 tonnes; 8) Turkey: 212309 tonnes; 9) Hong Kong: 208173 tonnes; 10) Spain: 199822 tonnes; 11) Mexico: 187439 tonnes; 12) India: 180644 tonnes; 13) Australia: 152929 tonnes; 14) Egypt: 141202 tonnes; 15) Uzbekistan: 140513 tonnes; 16) Afghanistan: 97756 tonnes; 17) Greece: 68233 tonnes; 18) Brazil: 49228 tonnes; 19) Lebanon: 47166 tonnes; 20) Republic of Moldova: 41270 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]
World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Grapes (2020): 1) China: US$1212702,000; 2) Chile: US$1027573,000; 3) Peru: US$991105,000; 4) Netherlands: US$958080,000; 5) Italy: US$829375,000; 6) United States: US$822385,000; 7) South Africa: US$521726,000; 8) Spain: US$472720,000; 9) Australia: US$432227,000; 10) Hong Kong: US$376597,000; 11) India: US$286118,000; 12) Mexico: US$276834,000; 13) Egypt: US$235770,000; 14) Turkey: US$157876,000; 15) Uzbekistan: US$133138,000; 16) Brazil: US$108992,000; 17) Greece: US$105554,000; 18) Germany: US$68258,000; 19) Namibia: US$48732,000; 20) Slovenia: US$43857,000
World’s Top Importers of Grapes (2020): 1) United States: 663934 tonnes; 2) Netherlands: 401920 tonnes; 3) Germany: 345580 tonnes; 4) Russia: 318725 tonnes; 5) United Kingdom: 277240 tonnes; 6) China: 250499 tonnes; 7) Hong Kong: 240508 tonnes; 8) Canada: 185731 tonnes; 9) Thailand: 138464 tonnes; 10) France: 131478 tonnes; 11) Poland: 125291 tonnes; 12) Mexico: 95586 tonnes; 13) Pakistan: 88640 tonnes; 14) Indonesia: 83044 tonnes; 15) Philippines: 78432 tonnes; 16) Saudi Arabia: 76879 tonnes; 17) Kazakhstan: 68887 tonnes; 18) Bangladesh: 63474 tonnes; 19) Spain: 59684 tonnes; 20) South Korea: 56684 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]
World’s Top Importers (in value terms) of Grapes (2020): 1) United States: US$1887640,000; 2) Netherlands: US$992590,000; 3) Germany: US$796003,000; 4) United Kingdom: US$680976,000; 5) China: US$642814,000; 6) Hong Kong: US$548004,000; 7) Canada: US$446665,000; 8) Russia: US$360625,000; 9) Indonesia: US$273268,000; 10) France: US$218821,000; 11) Poland: US$202730,000; 12) Mexico: US$196884,000; 13) South Korea: US$183366,000; 14) Thailand: US$147225,000; 15) Bangladesh: US$145902,000; 16) Spain: US$132843,000; 17) Japan: US$132487,000; 18) Philippines: US$129193,000; 19) Belgium: US$110936,000; 20) Vietnam: US$94774,000
Raisin Exporting and Importing Countries
World’s Top Exporters of Raisins (2020): 1) Turkey: 259000 tonnes; 2) Iran: 91973 tonnes; 3) United States: 80376 tonnes; 4) South Africa: 65063 tonnes; 5) Chile: 57567 tonnes; 6) Uzbekistan: 40928 tonnes; 7) Afghanistan: 39786 tonnes; 8) Argentina: 35548 tonnes; 9) China: 31388 tonnes; 10) India: 24250 tonnes; 11) United Arab Emirates: 23466 tonnes; 12) Greece: 16509 tonnes; 13) Netherlands: 16135 tonnes; 14) Germany: 12911 tonnes; 15) Belgium: 4837 tonnes; 16) Australia: 4546 tonnes; 17) Kyrgyzstan: 4446 tonnes; 18) United Kingdom: 4010 tonnes; 19) Lithuania: 2241 tonnes; 20) Austria: 2230 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]
World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Raisins (2020): 1) Turkey: US$513983,000; 2) United States: US$226528,000; 3) South Africa: US$125119,000; 4) Chile: US$124582,000; 5) Iran: US$110116,000; 6) Afghanistan: US$80410,000; 7) Uzbekistan: US$55138,000; 8) China: US$54596,000; 9) Argentina: US$51255,000; 10) Greece: US$45276,000; 11) Netherlands: US$41642,000; 12) Germany: US$34055,000; 13) United Arab Emirates: US$29685,000; 14) India: US$29602,000; 15) Australia: US$15639,000; 16) Thailand: US$12484,000; 17) Belgium: US$11451,000; 18) United Kingdom: US$10380,000; 19) Austria: US$8654,000; 20) Sweden: US$5493,000
World’s Top Importers of Raisins (2020): 1) United Kingdom: 98515 tonnes; 2) Germany: 81337 tonnes; 3) Netherlands: 53770 tonnes; 4) Japan: 31648 tonnes; 5) Turkey: 29841 tonnes; 6) India: 28534 tonnes; 7) Brazil: 28522 tonnes; 8) United Arab Emirates: 27277 tonnes; 9) Canada: 26679 tonnes; 10) France: 26414 tonnes; 11) Australia: 23942 tonnes; 12) China: 22270 tonnes; 13) Italy: 18836 tonnes; 14) Kazakhstan: 18143 tonnes; 15) Poland: 15869 tonnes; 16) United States: 15148 tonnes; 17) Ukraine: 13923 tonnes; 18) Russia: 13446 tonnes; 19) Morocco: 12418 tonnes; 20) Belgium: 11924 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]
World’s Top Importers (in value terms) of Raisins (2020): 1) United Kingdom: US$215976,000; 2) Germany: US$171184,000; 3) Netherlands: US$113058,000; 4) India: US$102448,000; 5) Japan: US$84408,000; 6) Canada: US$66802,000; 7) France: US$60811,000; 8) Turkey: US$49978,000; 9) Australia: US$49538,000; 10) Brazil: US$44551,000; 11) Italy: US$38172,000; 12) China: US$33478,000; 13) Poland: US$31533,000; 14) United States: US$30758,000; 15) United Arab Emirates: US$27367,000; 16) Belgium: US$26075,000; 17) Spain: US$24189,000; 18) Sweden: US$23507,000; 19) Russia: US$21147,000; 20) Saudi Arabia: US$19704,000
Currant Producing and Exporting Countries
A currant is a small dried fruit made from a small seedless grape type originally grown in the eastern Mediterranean region. Currants widely used in cooking.
World’s Top Producers of Currants (2020): 1) Russia: 436900 tonnes; 2) Poland: 146500 tonnes; 3) Ukraine: 25790 tonnes; 4) United Kingdom: 16375 tonnes; 5) Germany: 11970 tonnes; 6) France: 11400 tonnes; 7) Netherlands: 7600 tonnes; 8) Austria: 4730 tonnes; 9) New Zealand: 4457 tonnes; 10) Hungary: 4070 tonnes; 11) Lithuania: 3450 tonnes; 12) Azerbaijan: 2249 tonnes; 13) Uzbekistan: 1719 tonnes; 14) Czechia: 1560 tonnes; 15) Denmark: 1460 tonnes; 16) Finland: 1380 tonnes; ) Latvia: 900 tonnes; 17) Italy: 760 tonnes; 18) Norway: 615 tonnes; 19) Belgium: 600 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]
World’s Top Exporters of Currants (2020): 1) Netherlands: 2332 tonnes; 2) Denmark: 1951 tonnes; 3) Poland: 1610 tonnes; 4) France: 820 tonnes; 5) Belgium: 698 tonnes; 6) Spain: 628 tonnes; 7) Belarus: 432 tonnes; 8) Germany: 373 tonnes; 9) India: 322 tonnes; 10) Czechia: 268 tonnes; 11) Bulgaria: 219 tonnes; 12) Latvia: 145 tonnes; 13) Austria: 144 tonnes; 14) United States: 109 tonnes; 15) Ukraine: 102 tonnes; 16) Italy: 76 tonnes; 17) Portugal: 74 tonnes; 18) Azerbaijan: 70 tonnes; 19) Georgia: 69 tonnes; 20) Russia: 48 tonnes
World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Currants (2020): 1) Netherlands: US$25844,000; 2) Belgium: US$6202,000; 3) Poland: US$2144,000; 4) Denmark: US$1971,000; 5) Spain: US$1901,000; 6) France: US$1185,000; 7) Germany: US$943,000; 8) Italy: US$762,000; 9) Austria: US$694,000; 10) Portugal: US$631,000; 11) India: US$506,000; 12) Belarus: US$449,000; 13) United States: US$232,000; 14) Latvia: US$224,000; 15) Czechia: US$164,000; 16) United Kingdom: US$153,000; 17) Bulgaria: US$147,000; 18) Azerbaijan: US$131,000; 19) Georgia: US$126,000; 20) Luxembourg: US$109,000
Grape Juice Exporting and Importing Countries
World’s Top Exporters of Grape Juice (2020): 1) Spain: 180647 tonnes; 2) Italy: 157113 tonnes; 3) Argentina: 131810 tonnes; 4) United States: 32199 tonnes; 5) Chile: 31371 tonnes; 6) South Africa: 16257 tonnes; 7) Austria: 14272 tonnes; 8) Germany: 9409 tonnes; 9) France: 8961 tonnes; 10) Netherlands: 6667 tonnes; 11) Uzbekistan: 6589 tonnes; 12) Thailand: 6238 tonnes; 13) Canada: 5694 tonnes; 14) Turkey: 4626 tonnes; 15) Cyprus: 4580 tonnes; 16) Israel: 4390 tonnes; 17) Australia: 3879 tonnes; 18) Greece: 1924 tonnes; 19) Romania: 1808 tonnes; 20) Brazil: 1378 tonnes
World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Grape Juice (2020): 1) Spain: US$195264,000; 2) Argentina: US$134659,000; 3) Italy: US$111939,000; 4) United States: US$68897,000; 5) Chile: US$56882,000; 6) Austria: US$15223,000; 7) South Africa: US$14179,000; 8) Australia: US$10159,000; 9) Netherlands: US$9995,000; 10) Germany: US$9488,000; 11) Canada: US$8539,000; 12) France: US$6611,000; 13) Turkey: US$5689,000; 14) Uzbekistan: US$5386,000; 15) Thailand: US$5303,000; 16) Israel: US$5295,000; 17) Mexico: US$2787,000; 18) Greece: US$2751,000; 19) Cyprus: US$2596,000; 20) Brazil: US$2486,000
World’s Top Importers of Grape Juice (2019): 1) United States: 178952 tonnes; 2) Germany: 107131 tonnes; 3) Italy: 75946 tonnes; 4) France: 47245 tonnes; 5) Japan: 46810 tonnes; 6) Austria: 34359 tonnes; 7) South Africa: 33619 tonnes; 8) Netherlands: 30384 tonnes; 9) Canada: 27024 tonnes; 10) United Kingdom: 18911 tonnes; 11) China: 15453 tonnes; 12) South Korea: 12385 tonnes; 13) Thailand: 12026 tonnes; 14) Israel: 11982 tonnes; 15) Russia: 10448 tonnes; 16) Kazakhstan: 7640 tonnes; 17) Saudi Arabia: 6721 tonnes; 18) Belgium: 6669 tonnes; 19) Spain: 6471 tonnes; 20) Philippines: 6451 tonnes
World’s Top Importers (in value terms) of Grape Juice (2019): 1) Japan: US$98482,000; 2) United States: US$90124,000; 3) Germany: US$68234,000; 4) Canada: US$54624,000; 5) Italy: US$39255,000; 6) South Africa: US$38499,000; 7) Netherlands: US$29373,000; 8) France: US$28612,000; 9) China: US$25622,000; 10) South Korea: US$24684,000; 11) United Kingdom: US$21193,000; 12) Thailand: US$17831,000; 13) Austria: US$16970,000; 14) Russia: US$14068,000; 15) Israel: US$9917,000; 16) Saudi Arabia: US$9163,000; 17) Taiwan: US$8005,000; 18) Nigeria: US$7751,000; 19) Philippines: US$7635,000; 20) Mexico: US$7331,000
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: Food and Agriculture Organization, Wikipedia., New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, Associated Press, Lonely Planet Guides, and various books and other publications.
Last updated July 2026