How Many Types of Wine Grapes Are There?

There are about 10,000 varieties of wine grapes. Many of these varieties have been developed by using grafting and other methods to produce new hybrids. Many types of grapes are popular in certain countries and are used in producing wines that are considered representative of those countries. In the United States, many varieties of wine grapes are grown and used to produce wines under regional brands.

More facts about wine grapes:

• The process for grafting two grape vines involves the use of the scion and the rootstalk. The scion is a cutting from a healthy vine that is slightly longer than the average adult middle finger and has at least two buds. The rootstock is a cutting that is rooted and then split to receive the scion as a graft. Many of the wine grape varieties that are in common use today were produced using this method.


• There are many wine grape varieties that thrive in North America, including the Vitis amurensis, Vitis labrusca, Vitis vulpina, Vitis riparia and Vitis rotundifolia. It was the introduction of Vitis vinifera by settlers from Italy and other parts of Europe that launched the wine industry in the U.S.


• The U.S. is home to about 1.1 million acres (4,451.5 square kilometers) that are used for the cultivation of wine grapes. This makes the U.S. the fifth most planted country in terms of wine grape vines, behind France, Turkey, Italy and Spain.