Farming Story

Table Grapes vs Wine Grapes

The reason table grapes are called ‘table grapes’ is because they are best for eating, while wine grapes are...you guessed it...best for making wine!

Table grapes are different from those used in winemaking, especially in the way they are grown. Table grapes are eaten fresh and therefore need to be unblemished. Growers achieve this through special trellising which separates bunches on the vines to stop them rubbing.

The grapes used in wine making have a high acidity and are much sweeter, softer and juicier than table grapes. Wine grapes also have thicker, chewier skins and more prominent seeds.  Table grapes are often larger with thinner skins.  They’re crispier, crunchier and due to consumer demand, often seedless.

Harvest Process

Harvesting table grapes is labour-intensive and certain skills are required when packing grapes to avoid “shatter” – detachment of grapes from their cluster.

Table grapes are picked by hand to avoid bruising and to ensure the best selection. They develop natural sugars as they ripen on the vine, but do not become any sweeter once picked. It is therefore imperative that growers harvest fruit at the optimum maturity to satisfy consumer tastes.

Once harvested, grapes are stored in on-farm packing sheds and cold storage facilities at 0-2°C and 85-95% relative humidity to maintain their freshness.

Grower Profile- George Moraitis

Young grower learns to love the grape life

George Moraitis hasn’t always had a passion for table grapes, in fact as a teenager and young adolescent he hated it.

“I remember dad asking me if I wanted a career on the farm, and when I said no I was allowed to go and pursue other dreams,” he said.

“For 12 months I played soccer in Adelaide and it wasn’t until mum and dad asked me to come home and help my brother Rick with the pruning while they were overseas that I realised what I had left behind.

“There’s so much more to farming than simply growing a crop, and it was this lifestyle that attracted me.”

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Grower Profile - Glenn Pearmine

Quality, not quantity a key to small success

Fed up with working in the mining industry Glenn Pearmine began looking for a place of his own and a career that would bring greater satisfaction.

"I grew up on a dairy at East Palmerston in northern Queensland where we also grew a few acres of bananas," he said.

"I was eager to return to the land, the lifestyle it offered, and the chance to do something that I could become passionate about.

"Emerald seemed a natural choice. I had been working and living in the area for the past 28 years and with the abundance of water through the Emerald Irrigation Scheme, it seemed the ideal location to grow a crop."

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Grower Profile - Joe Polifrone

Paving the future for the next generation

The Pollifrone family are a fine example of how succession planning can work for both the younger generation looking to take over and the older generation looking to retire.

Joe Pollifrone is 65 years old and has been semi-retired for the past 12 months as his two sons Vince and Anthony take on more responsibility for the running of the farm. Pleased with the way they handle the property Joe is preparing to step back even further at the end of the season and give the two boys full control.

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History of Table Grapes

Did you know that grapes are one of the oldest edible plants to be cultivated, along with olives? Fossils indicate that the consumption of grapes dates back as far as 5000BC!

Grapes were brought to Australia with the First Fleet in 1788 by Captain Arthur Phillip, founder of the colony of New South Wales. He planted a small vineyard with cuttings from South America and South Africa as one of his first ventures in agriculture.

Since then the Australian table grape industry has grown to more than 10,500 hectares producing about 120,000 tonnes annually.

Today, there are more than 8,000 grape varieties worldwide!