Grape prices

Wine grapes are an important item of commerce throughout the world, and the economic fortunes of many rural communities rise and fall with local wine grape prices. Although many wine consumers have the impression that most wine grapes are grown on estates which also process them into wine, nothing could be further from the truth. The majority of the world’s wine grapes are sold in the form of fresh fruit, to be vinified quite independently of the grape-grower, whether by commercial wineries or co-operatives.