Table grapes. Frequently asked questions and answers. Origins and properties

Few of us, observing the bunches of ripe grapes on the counters of the greengrocer or on the shelves of the supermarket, can imagine how much work "almost all by hand" was necessary to bring to our tables a fresh and ideal product like the one we find on time ahead every year. Surely we all know if we like grapes crunchy, with large or small berries, more or less sweet, with or without seeds, white, red or black. We know the most famous varieties, the Italy grape, the American grape, the Red Globe, to name a few, but few of us know how to list more than two or three qualities, and even fewer know that Italy, is the European leader in production. Thanks to regions such as Puglia, Sicily and Basilicata, which guarantee our tables, like those of all Europe, a fresh product for eight months a year, but above all an exceptional quality and variety, the result of the commitment of farmers on the vine and the vineyard. A lot of research, innovation and tradition told by 82 authors in the book "L'uva da tavola". And many secrets of a fruit which, thanks to polyphenols, has extraordinary anti-aging properties.

Italy
In the 1950s, Italy exported Chasselas table grapes (but it is a wine variety) produced on the hills of Savignano sul Panaro (MO) and Monteveglio (BO) to Switzerland on railway wagons called "iceboxes", because they were stocked with sticks. of ice that kept the temperature of the product low during the journey.
According to Istat data, Italy exports about 20,000 trucks of table grapes every year. There are over 2 million grapes on a truck, so Italy potentially supplies 5 grapes to every inhabitant of the world.
The largest export market for Italian grapes is Germany which, for 75%, consumes seedless grapes.
The Red Globe grape in Italy usually takes on a dark purple color, unwelcome to Asian consumers who, on the other hand, prefer it light red-black cherry.