Actually I decided that my Concord Defense rant is gonna be its own post!!
The "fake" flavor of american grape juice and jam is actually because in the USA, concord grapes are typically used for juice and jam. These aren't a different variety, but a whole different species! Most table grapes and wine grapes are cultivated from Vitis vinifera, from the Mediterranean. Concord is Vitis lambrusca, a North American species with that distinct, almost musky flavor that is traditionally described as "foxy". The big difference in flavor between the species we snack on and the species that is often used for juice in the USA is why so many people assume the grape juice here tastes "fake."
The reason they arent eaten as table grapes much is because they have thinner skins that are easily damaged and have a shorter shelf life, which makes them difficult to ship and store for production as fresh snacking fruit. But they do have a high juice content and that, along with their strong flavors, are why they got established as the primary juice and jam production grapes in the USA.
Anyway. Concord grapes arent usually used for wine production outside of the VERY sweet kosher brand Manischewitz (and little local wines that might get more experimental). Most people dont like them bc of the great injustice done by that strong association with concord flavor=fake (but also, admittedly, bc it is a pretty unique musky flavor that you either love or hate.)
This has been a rant bc i always loved that funky Welch's grape juice concord taste and its not fake!! (grape candy i can't defend though idk why it tastes like shit but it do). You can not like it, but USA grape juice and jam doesnt taste fake!! It tastes like a different species!!!
I LOVE the "jam grapes" trader joes has and had assumed they were cultivated to have the foxy flavor (which also was very funny to me) but them being a hybrid makes so much more sense lmao.
