By the early 1930s Alicante Bouschet was the second most-planted grape in California. Growers around the state were ripping up their fruit orchards in order let the rambunctious grape populate itself.

The Alicante Bouschet grape became so popular it was exported all over the world, including Algeria, Israel, and even California, to give a deeper red color and tannic strength to a blend.

Natural bunch grapes with seeds from Alicante add "an element of fun to the tradition of the 12 grapes." The seeds provide a "crunchy touch," the supermarket said.

Traditionally, Alicante's Tuscan role is as a blending grape, a component of nearby Sangiovese-based Morellino di Scanzano wines, adding a soft touch and a Mediterranean-herbed edge.

The roots of the grape tradition trace back to Spain in 1909 when Alicante grape growers promoted eating twelve grapes as a way to mark the New Year and bring good fortune.

Ten teams vied for a $1,500 prize — and bragging rights — on Sunday in the World Championship Grape Stomp Finals at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair.

One idea attributes the custom to grape growers in Alicante, Spain, according to CBS News. According to reports, they developed the custom in the early 1900s to deal with an overabundance of grapes.

In Spain and Portugal, alicante bouschet never fully fell out of favor. Its preferred role, though, was as a tinting grape, used in small amounts to deepen the hue of lighter varieties.

On a recent weekday afternoon, a man from Staten Island named Baur was observing his red alicante grapes being juiced in the massive on-site press, occasionally standing to fill five-gallon ...

The roots of the grape tradition trace back to Spain in 1909 when Alicante grape growers promoted eating twelve grapes as a way to mark the New Year and bring good fortune.