Ever dreamed of picking grapes from your own vine? Well, before you do, I’ll let you in on a super-simple (but surprisingly little-known) trick that UK growers can use to dramatically boost the flavour of their home-grown grapes without any extra effort. Coincidentally, the same tip could improve the nutrient content of your harvests and simultaneously provide you with a crop that is literally unbuyable in the supermarkets. What on earth is it? Well, simply plant a wine grape variety instead of a table variety – and now is the perfect time to do it. Here’s how it works…

Wine grapes, one might assume, would be simply too unpalatably sour to make good eating. Wrong…

Wine grapes, one might assume, would have to be simply too unpalatably sour or astringent to make good eating. Hence they are reserved for the wine press, rather than the fruit bowl. However, the reality is quite the opposite. In fact, wine grapes tend to have been bred for high levels of sugars, essential for the microbes that feast on them to convert into alcohol. Without this, the resultant tipple, apart from not being as fun to drink, simply doesn’t have enough alcohol to suppress the effects of secondary fermentation by harmful bacteria, meaning the wine would simply go off in the bottle.

Table grape varieties, on the other hand, have often been bred with the goal of achieving crunchy, hard flesh that resists damage during transport. Perhaps counterintuitively, therefore, wine grape varieties are usually much sweeter and more richly flavoured than table varieties.

Wine grapes also tend to be bred for smaller individual berries (yes, grapes are technically a berry) with thicker skins, because it is in the skin that the chemicals key to vibrant colour and complex tannic flavour come from. As it is these same chemicals which may, research suggests, have health benefits, wine-making varieties perhaps offer not just enhanced flavour but potentially higher levels of some nutrients. If you can forgive the fact that most wine grapes haven’t had their seeds bred out, then their benefits far outweigh those of table grapes for the home-grower, at least in my opinion.

It’s a huge shame that wine grapes are unbuyable in supermarkets. If you want them, you will have to grow your own. One of my favourites is the classic pinot noir, one of the primary varieties used to make champagne. With an exceptionally sweet, bramble-like flavour, these black fruits grow on vigorous vines that thrive on even the thinnest of chalky soils. How is a black grape variety used to make champagne? Wineries simply remove the skins before juicing.

Müller-Thurgau is one of the most popular varieties grown in UK vineyards for its excellent adaptation to northern climates. It has a wonderfully juicy, succulent texture and superb sweetness.

Finally, if it’s rosé varieties you’re looking for, gewürztraminer won’t disappoint with its big bunches of aromatic, light pink fruit with a hint of spice and citrus. If you have the space, plant all three, trained tightly clipped along a wall, for maximum flavour in minimum space. Believe me, you’ll thank me for it.

Email James at james.wong@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter@Botanygeek