I know this isn’t really about wine, but can we talk about the size of white grapes at the grocery store in the last year or 2. I feel like they are approaching the size of plums sometimes and almost require 2 bites. I’m not complaining bc honestly they’re delicious. Grape growers, what are they doing, I’m assuming it’s some sort to hybrids or new variants or is it a vine management that resulting in larger grapes
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And have gotten crunchier , on the whole.
Especially green grapes .
Yes!
There are grape labs that engineer grapes to achieve bigger size and flavor/texture like Grapery. Shine Muscat is a really delicious and huge green grape, very popular in Asian markets. I saw a documentary that they reduce grape counts in a cluster and reduce the clusters # in general, forcing more nutrients to the remaining grapes hence giant size.
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You can find some insane grapes in Korean supermarkets. They are huge, and often they actually list the brix number as well. Love them.
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$28 for a 3lb cluster of Shine Muscat in HMart. TBH I prefer Moondrops.
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I worked with a bulk wine producer in the Central Valley once, whose multimillion-gallon bulk wine production was a side business. Their main business was, apparently, growing ultra premium fruit, the vast majority for export to Asian markets. Best raisins I ever tasted, too.
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We have an old Concord grape vine at our house with berries about the size of store bought blueberries. Seeded grapes of course — we’ll taste them but most go into my wife’s unparalleled grape jelly (cut the recipe sugar by about a third).
The grapes, even just raw, have an intensity of flavor that is utterly lacking in any store bought grapes I’ve had. FWIW.
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There are definitely different varieties out there that are increasing in size. Looks like y’all have covered those. Traditionally, to get grape size up in table grapes (especially seedless varieties), they spray a plant growth regulator (Gibberellic Acid). Takes it from the image on the right, to the image on the left. Reducing berry number per cluster will also usually increase the size of individual berries - assuming removed at the right stage of growth.
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Sounds very “healthy” …
Surprisingly so. It’s a naturally occuring organic growth hormone for plants. No binding sites in animals, so doesn’t interact. Used in grapes, barley malting, clementine oranges, cherries, the floral industry, etc… And it’s organic!
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Would love to know the numbers my friend
I have found that a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape more than satisfies my hankering for some raisins. Bonus being, of course, that I don’t even have to chew!! 
I am glad someone finds them delicious because I feel like most grocery store grapes taste terrible compared to my memories of grapes when I was younger. This is especially true of the very large ones. Maybe that is nostalgia and the flaw of memory. I’ve tried the new boutique grapes (though not Shine) and while I’ve enjoyed some I’ve not been wowed by any.