🥃 Grape juice

Grape juice is the unfermented juice of grapes. Under EU rules, fruit juice is a fermentable but unfermented product made from sound, ripe fruit, with the colour, flavour and taste typical of that fruit. In the EU, sugar may not be added to grape juice.

In industry, grapes are destemmed, crushed and pressed. In the hot-press method used for dark grapes, the crushed berries are heated to 60–63 °C before pressing so that colour passes from the skins into the juice; light-coloured varieties are pressed cold. The juice is cleared by filtration or centrifugation; one such process gives about 820 litres of juice per tonne of grapes. The juice is then heated to about 77 °C, filled into preheated bottles and pasteurised at 85 °C for 3 minutes.

Grape juice differs from grape must in its use. In EU law, grape must is the liquid obtained from fresh grapes naturally or by physical processes, and it may contain up to 1% alcohol by volume; wine is the product of the full or partial alcoholic fermentation of fresh grapes or grape must. Grape juice belongs to the grape products.

Glucose and fructose are the main sugars in grape juice. WHO counts the sugars naturally present in fruit juices as free sugars and advises keeping free sugars below 10% of daily energy intake. Concentrated grape juice is diluted to make juice and juice blends, including sparkling ones, and grape juice is also used to make jellies and jams.