Grapes & wine: Characteristics
Brix, acid and pH: reading a grape at harvest
What this tab covers The supply and physical characteristics of the commodity. Supply: current production, inventories and stocks, capacity utilisation, geographic and producer concentration, how fast supply responds to price, the project pipeline and capital spending, and logistics and export flows. Material: the physical and chemical properties that set its grade, price and end uses (for example purity and conductivity for metals, API gravity, sulfur and energy content for fuels, moisture, protein and fibre quality for crops).Supply volume characteristics
| Characteristic | Figure | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current production volume | 75.9 Mt of grapes (2024); 225.8 million hl of wine (2024); about 30 Mt of table grapes (2025) | China grows 22.2% of grapes, mostly table grapes. Wine output in 2024 was the lowest since 1961. India grew 3.90 Mt (FAOSTAT 2024), mostly table grapes. | FAOSTAT 2024; OIV 2025; USDA PSD |
| Inventory and stock levels | table grapes: none beyond weeks of cold store; wine: large cellar stocks | Wine stocks are the buffer: Champagne holds reserve wines from good vintages for up to 10 years. The EU has paid for crisis distillation in surplus years. Indian grapes are held a few weeks in pack-house cold stores at Nashik before shipping. | Geman 2005; OIV; content of this tile |
| Capacity utilisation | not published | Wineries run at full stretch during harvest and are idle much of the year. Falling wine demand has left the EU with surplus vineyard and cellar capacity, which is why France and others fund vine grubbing-up. No utilisation series is published. | content of this tile (qualitative) |
| Geographic and producer concentration | China 22.2%, top-3 (China, Italy, Spain) 39.3%, HHI 833 (2024) | Wine exports are concentrated: France 33.3% and Italy 23.0% of value. Table grape exports are spread: Peru 13.9%, Chile 12.1%. Gallo, Constellation, Treasury and Concha y Toro are the large wine firms. | FAOSTAT 2024; UN Comtrade 2024 |
| Supply elasticity | low: new vines take 3-4 years to bear and longer to full yield | Short-run supply depends on weather: frost, hail and heat can cut a vintage sharply, as Champagne's 2003 frost cut yields to 8,250 kg/ha against 10,400. Long planting cycles cause gluts and shortages years apart. | Geman 2005; content of this tile |
| Project pipeline and CapEx | table grape growth in Peru, India and China; EU vineyard shrinking | Peru's export vineyards keep expanding into new varieties. India's export-registered GrapeNet area was about 18,900 ha in 2024-25. The EU funds grubbing-up of surplus wine vineyards. | APEDA GrapeNet; content of this tile |
| Logistics and export flows | fresh grape exports $12.5 bn and wine $38.0 bn (2024) | Table grapes ship in reefers at about 0 C: Peru and Chile to the US and Europe, Nashik via JNPT to Rotterdam and the UK (about 1.2 lakh t to Europe in 2023-24). Wine moves in bottles or in bulk flexitanks for bottling near markets. Bottlenecks: reefer space in the January-April Indian season, Red Sea diversions, and EU residue limits. | UN Comtrade 2024; India Sea Trade News, Mar 2025 |
Material characteristics Agricultural / soft commodity
Table grapes are sold on berry size, sugar, colour, firmness and residue compliance. Wine grapes are bought on sugar (Brix), acidity and pH at harvest, which set the wine's alcohol and balance. Wine itself is defined by alcohol content, residual sugar and sulphite limits that vary by market.
| Property | Value / specification | Why it matters | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar content (Brix) | table grapes need minimum sugar or sugar/acid ratio, about 16 Brix for many varieties; wine grapes about 20-26 Brix at harvest | Sets taste and maturity for table grapes, and alcohol potential for wine | EU Regulation 543/2011; UNECE FFV-19; viticulture practice (indicative) |
| Berry size | export Thompson Seedless often 16-18 mm minimum diameter | Bigger berries earn premiums in Europe | buyer and APEDA specs (indicative) |
| Pesticide residues | must meet EU MRLs; India's GrapeNet tests each export plot | A failed test blocks the whole consignment | APEDA GrapeNet; EU Regulation 396/2005 |
| Acidity and pH (wine grapes) | titratable acidity about 6-9 g/L, pH about 3.2-3.6 | Sets wine balance and stability | viticulture practice (indicative) |
| Wine alcohol | EU still wine generally 8.5-15% vol | Defines the product category and its duty band | EU Regulation 1308/2013 |
| Sulphur dioxide | EU limits about 150 mg/L for dry red and 200 mg/L for dry white wine | Preservative; exceeding limits blocks sale | EU Regulation 2019/934 |
| Raisin moisture | about 18% max | Higher moisture brings mould and sugaring | trade specs (indicative) |