Types of Grapes: Table, Concord & Muscadine Compared
Short answer: Most grapes fall into three useful groups. Table grapes (Vitis vinifera) are the seedless green, red and black grapes sold for snacking. Concord grapes are a North American slip-skin variety with a bold, jammy 'grape flavour' used for juice and jelly. Muscadines are large, thick-skinned Southern US grapes eaten by squeezing out the pulp. They differ in skin, seeds, sweetness and whether you eat the whole fruit or just the inside.
| 🍇 Grape | 🍇 Concord grape | 🍇 Muscadine | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taste | Sweet, juicy, and mildly tart with variety-specific aromatics — foxy grape-jelly notes in Concords, lychee-rose in Muscats, literal cotton-candy in the namesake hybrid. Skins add tannic grip. | Boldly sweet and musky with the deep "foxy" grape flavor that defines grape jelly and juice; the skin slips off easily, the flesh is soft and seedy, and the flavor is far more aromatic than a table or wine grape. | Intensely aromatic and musky-sweet — grape candy, banana, and rose over a plummy tang, in a thick skin that pops and a slip-out pulp with seeds. |
| Type | Berry | Berry | Berry |
| Peak season | Summer, Autumn | Autumn | Summer, Autumn |
| Origin | South Caucasus (Georgia/Armenia/Iran region), domesticated ~8,000 years ago | Northeastern North America (Concord, Massachusetts, 1849) | Southeastern United States |
| Calories (per 100 g) | 69 | 62 | 57 |
| Sugar (per 100 g) | 15.5 g | 15 g | 10 g |
| Vitamin C (per 100 g) | 3.2 mg | — | 6 mg |
| Fiber (per 100 g) | 0.9 g | 0.9 g | 3.9 g |
| Potassium (per 100 g) | 191 mg | 190 mg | — |
| Typical price | Budget | Budget | Budget |
Grapes look interchangeable in the bowl, but the ones you buy split into a few practical groups.
Table grapes are the familiar green, red and blue-black grapes — mostly seedless Vitis vinifera cultivars bred for thin skin, crunch and easy snacking. Concord grapes are an American Vitis labrusca type: deep purple, seeded and slip-skin (the skin separates from the pulp), with the bold, candy-like “grape” flavour behind most grape juice and jelly. Muscadines are large, round, thick-skinned grapes native to the warm Southern US, traditionally eaten by squeezing the sweet pulp out of the leathery skin.
The differences that matter day to day are skin (thin and edible vs slip-skin vs tough), seeds (usually none vs seeded), and use (snacking vs juice/jelly vs fresh Southern treat). For a head-to-head on the same three, see grape vs muscadine vs concord, and for how grapes stack up against another everyday fruit, apple vs grape.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between table grapes and Concord grapes?
Table grapes are usually seedless with thin skin you eat whole, bred for mild sweetness and snacking. Concord grapes are slip-skin — the skin slides off the pulp — with seeds and an intense 'grape' aroma, which is why they dominate juice and jelly rather than the snack aisle.
How do you eat a muscadine grape?
Muscadines have tough skins and seeds. Many people bite or squeeze the sweet pulp into their mouth and discard the skin and seeds, though the skin is edible and rich in antioxidants.
Which type of grape is sweetest?
Ripe muscadines and Concords are intensely sweet and aromatic, while table grapes are milder and cleaner. Sweetness varies by variety and ripeness more than by group alone.