The Best Time to Pick Concord Grapes for the Best Flavor

Season

• Concord grapes are usually harvested in late August through early September in the New England states and from mid-September to early October in Michigan, and early to mid-October in New York. This variety will often have a light, yet pleasant fragrance around this time, which indicates the fruit is ready to be picked.

Sweetness

• Concord grapes are a very sweet variety. For this reason, they should be harvested when they have reached their peak flavor. One of the best ways to determine this is by tasting some of the fruit from the vine to test the sweetness.

Seeds

• Concord grapes are a seeded type. One of the ways to verify this variety is ready to be picked is by opening up the fruit and looking at the seed. Mature fruits will contain seeds that are brown rather than green inside.

Color

• Concord grapes are blue or dark purple in color. They will turn this shade several weeks before being ready to harvest. There can, however, be a faint white coating on the outside of the berry when it is close to being mature.