Sugars in wine Sugars in wine Sugars in wine are at the heart of what makes winemaking possible. During the process of fermentation, sugars from wine grapes are broken down and converted by yeast into alcohol (ethanol) and carbon dioxide. Grapes accumulate sugars as they grow on the grapevine through the translocation of sucrose molecules that are produced by photosynthesis from the leaves. During ripening the sucrose molecules are hydrolyzed (separated) by the enzyme invertase into glucose and fructose. By the time of harvest, between 15 and 25% of the grape will be composed of simple sugars. Both glucose and fructose are six-carbon
The Fox and the Grapes of this transposition to the human situation hinges on the double meaning of 'unripe' ("vert") in French, which could also be used of a sexually immature female. From this emerges the story's subtext, of which a literal translation reads: There is the same sexual ambiguity in the Greek of Babrius. The phrase there is "όμφακες εισίν" ("omphakes eisin"), the word "omphax" having both the literal meaning of an unripe grape and the metaphorical usage of a girl not yet ripe for marriage. Rather than admit his failure to reach the grapes, the fox rationalises that they are not really desirable.