This year I was lucky enough to see, feel and taste the oldest white grapes in France. The roots extend 10 meters underground and the plant is more than 400 years old. Even today, it still produces many grapes, and the leaves look healthy and will maybe live another 400 years.
Just like other vine plants, the grape vine needs something to hold on to while it grows. Usually, when you visit vineyards, you can see wires and poles that help the plant stand. The plant reaches its vines like fingers, trying to find something higher to hold on to. Once it does, it wraps around the object and quickly moves on to something higher. When we think of grapes, we picture them in red and green. If you’ve tried either color, you may think the taste is not that different. The color difference comes from red grapes having more plant nutrients, called flavenoids, that produce antioxidants than green grapes. Antioxidants help keep you healthy, so red grapes are actually more healthy than green ones, but the vines that I saw produce grapes in light green. The grapes and the leaves were big, but the vine was a darker shade of green. The trunk was rough and thick, and it had a texture that reminded me of a hairy and tough animal.
