Vine Facts

There are over 10,000 species of grapes, but the principal grape species used in winemaking around the world is the European Vitis vinifera, which probably originated in the Mediterranean area and Western Asia.  In the United States the eastern "fox grape" species, Vitis labrusca, is often used for wine making.

The first Old World vitis vinifera grapes were cultivated in California by Spanish monks who established a series of monasteries along the coasts.  Father Junipero Serra planted vines at Mission San Diego in 1769, and harvested and pressed the grapes in 1772, marking California's first vintage.

How many grapes does it take to make wine?  (these numbers can vary substantially depending on a number of variables)

• 1 grape cluster = 1 glass
• 75 grapes = 1 cluster
• 4 clusters = 1 bottle
• 40 clusters = 1 vine
• 1 vine = 10 bottles
• 1200 clusters = 1 barrel
• 1 barrel = 60 gallons
• 60 gallons = 25 cases
• 1 ton = 2 barrels
• 1 acre = 2 to 5 tons
• 5 tons = 332 cases

Grape vines are deciduous, and go dormant during the winter months.

"Brix" is the term used to designate the percentage of sugar in the grapes before fermentation. For example, 23° brix will be converted by yeast to 12.5% alcohol, more or less, depending on the conversion efficiency of the strain of yeast used.

Grapevines cannot reproduce reliably from seed. To cultivate a particular grape variety, grafting (a plant version of cloning) is used.

A crop of newly planted grape vines takes three to five years to grow before it can be harvested for grapes of a quality suitable for fine wine.