10 Fun Facts about Grapes

Are you ready for Kiawah’s premier food and wine event, Gourmet and Grapes?  It’s a chance to eat the tastiest dishes accompanied by the finest wines in the beautiful setting of The Sanctuary. But before you put on your finery for this delightful grape and gourmet festival, here’s a bit of wine related trivia — some fun facts about grapes.

1. Grapes are one of the world’s favorite fruits, regularly listed in the top 10 (other are mangos, bananas and tomatoes).

2. Around the world there are more than 8,000 varieties of grape. There are 7 different grape colors: red, green, white, black, purple, blue and golden.

3. Grapes have been thought to have healing properties since ancient times. In China, wine was mixed with frogs, snakes and other animals to create a cure for illness.

4. America’s oldest grapevine is 400 years old and is in North Carolina.

5. Wine has been made from grapes since 5,000BC.

6. About a quarter of the grapes used in the US come from Chile.

7. While grapes are 80% water, when they become raisins the water content is just 15%.

8. You can get about 15,000 glasses of wine from an acre of grapes.

9. 72 million tons of grapes are produced around the world each year.

10. With more than 200, California’s Napa Valley has the world’s highest concentration of wineries.

How many of those facts did you already know? If you didn’t get all of them, don’t worry – you can still have a great time at Gourmet and Grapes 2012.  For more information, go to www.gourmetandgrapes.com.