Verjus is the juice pressed from grapes harvested unripe, before the sugar builds, and the name comes from the Middle French vert jus, green juice. Its acidity rests mainly on malic and tartaric acids, the pair that structures wine, which explains its place as a wine-adjacent acid in alcohol-free drinks.
A 2022 laboratory study of three Turkish grape varieties measured a pH between 2.51 and 2.53 and a titratable acidity of 32 to 38 grams per litre. The category holds one trap: a Spanish agraz verjus from Navarra is fermented and sold at 7 percent alcohol, so the word verjus alone does not guarantee an alcohol-free product.
What is verjus, and where does the name come from?
Verjus is the pressed juice of grapes harvested before veraison, the stage at which the berries start to colour and accumulate sugar. The word comes from the Middle French vert jus. Spanish dictionaries record the same product as agraz, defined by the Real Academia Española as the juice drawn from unripe grapes.
European kitchens used it for centuries as the sour agent of sauces and for deglazing, before the lemon took over that role. One landmark often repeated: in 1856 a Dijon (France) producer named Jean Naigeon is said to have replaced the vinegar in prepared mustard with verjus, which gave Dijon mustard its present character.
Spanish adds a vocabulary complication. The Real Academia Española lists under agraz the juice of unripe grapes, but also the unripe bunch, an iced drink called agrazada and, in Andalusia, a shrub, the barberry. A bottle labelled agraz verjus designates the juice; the bare word agraz can point to the grapes, a drink or a bush.
Harvest timing defines the product. The technical sheet of Bodegas Ochoa in Olite (Spain) states that the grapes are picked just before veraison, when acidity is high and sugar is low, and Bodegas Robles in Montilla (Spain) describes a pick a few days before veraison.
How acidic is verjus compared with lemon juice?
Verjus sits in the same order of magnitude as lemon juice. Three Turkish varieties pressed unripe gave a pH of 2.51 to 2.53 and a titratable acidity of 32.4 to 37.7 g/L, expressed as tartaric acid, while lemon juice holds about 48.7 g/L of citric acid, a value calculated from 1.44 g per US fluid ounce.
The verjus figures come from a study by Yuksel Bayram and Cigdem Elgin Karabacak of Pamukkale University, published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems on 29 June 2022. The juice yield ranged from 54 to 65 percent and the soluble solids from 4.1 to 6 °Brix. Chromatography found malic acid dominant at 20.5 to 27.8 g/L, tartaric acid at 9.9 to 16.9 g/L and citric acid at only 0.4 to 0.5 g/L.
The lemon figure comes from Kristina Penniston and colleagues, who measured 1.44 g of citric acid per US fluid ounce (29.57 mL) of lemon juice and 1.38 g for lime juice in the Journal of Endourology in 2008. The conversion to grams per litre is a calculation made here. The two series use different methods, so the comparison indicates a range, not an exact ratio.
The identity of the acid separates the two ingredients more than its quantity. Citric acid dominates lemon, whereas malic and tartaric acids dominate verjus, the same pair found in wine. Vinegar is a third case: its acid is acetic acid, produced by fermentation. The sources consulted give no vinegar measurement, so no figure is compared here.
| Product | Acidity measure (g/L) | pH |
|---|---|---|
| Verjus, Yediveren (Türkiye, 2022 study) | 32.38 titratable, as tartaric acid; 26.9 malic acid by HPLC | 2.53 |
| Verjus, Çal Karası (Türkiye, 2022 study) | 37.09 titratable, as tartaric acid; 20.5 malic acid by HPLC | 2.51 |
| Verjus, Sultaniye (Türkiye, 2022 study) | 37.71 titratable, as tartaric acid; 27.8 malic acid by HPLC | 2.52 |
| Fermented agraz verjus, Bodegas Ochoa (Navarra, Spain) | High, no figure published | 2.78 |
| Lemon juice (Penniston et al., 2008) | About 48.7 citric acid, calculated from 1.44 g per US fluid ounce | Not measured in the source |
Is every product sold as verjus free of alcohol?
No. Verjus in the strict sense is unfermented, but at least one Spanish producer sells a fermented version. The technical sheet of Bodegas Ochoa in Olite (Spain) lists an alcohol content of 7 percent by volume and a pH of 2.78 for its agraz verjus, made from a must fermented in stainless steel tanks.
This is the least known fact about the category. The Ochoa product was revived in the 1990s by Javier Ochoa with the Navarra wine institute EVENA and the Academia de Gastronomía de Navarra, uses tempranillo, viura or moscatel depending on the vintage, and, on the producer's own sheet, follows medieval references from the Tacuinum Sanitatis. Bodegas Robles describes a fermentation step for its Andalusian agraz verjus without publishing an alcohol figure.
The labelling rule explains why the figure matters. Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Article 9(1)(k), makes the actual alcoholic strength by volume a mandatory particular for beverages containing more than 1.2 percent alcohol. A product at 7 percent must therefore state its strength, whereas the absence of a statement shows only that the product stays at or below 1.2 percent, not that it contains none.
For an alcohol-free menu, three checks settle the question: whether the producer describes a fermentation, whether a strength in percent by volume appears on the label or sheet, and what the producer says about the process. A pressed and unfermented juice and a fermented agraz share a name and not a status.
| Type of product | Production step | Alcohol (% vol) |
|---|---|---|
| Verjus as pressed juice | Unripe grapes pressed, no fermentation | No fermentation step |
| Agraz verjus, Bodegas Ochoa | Must fermented in stainless steel tanks | 7 |
| Beverage subject to a strength statement | Actual alcoholic strength mandatory on the label (Regulation 1169/2011, Article 9(1)(k)) | More than 1.2 |
| Lemon juice, for contrast | Fruit pressed, citric acid as the main acid | No fermentation step |
What does verjus do in a zero-proof drink?
Verjus supplies acidity with little sugar. The Turkish samples measured only 4.1 to 6 °Brix, far from the sweetness of a ripe grape juice. In a zero-proof drink that makes it a candidate for the acid slot normally held by wine, with an acid profile close to wine instead of citrus.
Three uses follow from that profile. It can carry the acidity of a sangria base without wine, as described in the guide to alcohol-free sangria. It can serve as the sour element of a shrub-style drink, a role covered in the article on shrubs and drinking vinegars. It can be diluted with sparkling water as a long drink. The definition page on verjuice gives the short version.
The same study measured phenolic compounds, with quercetin the most abundant at 89.7 to 122.6 mg/L across the three varieties. That composition explains why verjus is described as wine-adjacent, but the study makes no claim about flavour in a drink and none about health, and neither is made here.
What do the available measurements not establish?
The measurements describe three Turkish varieties in one laboratory and one Spanish producer's sheet, so they do not define verjus as a standard product. The sources reviewed contain no common specification for acidity or alcohol, and the figures carry no claim about flavour or health.
Three limits follow. Acidity depends on variety and harvest date, so a bottle from another vineyard can sit outside the 2.51 to 2.53 pH range. A titratable acidity in tartaric equivalents and a citric acid content do not measure the same thing. And the name verjus covers pressed and fermented products alike, so each bottle needs its own check.
What is verjus?
The juice pressed from grapes harvested unripe, before veraison, from the Middle French vert jus, green juice. Its acidity comes mainly from malic and tartaric acids. Three Turkish varieties measured a pH of 2.51 to 2.53 and a titratable acidity of 32.4 to 37.7 g/L in a 2022 study.
Is verjus alcohol-free?
Verjus pressed and left unfermented has no fermentation step, but not every bottle sold under the name qualifies. The agraz verjus of Bodegas Ochoa in Navarra (Spain) lists 7 percent alcohol by volume. Under EU rules a beverage above 1.2 percent must state its actual strength on the label.
Is verjus more acidic than lemon juice?
In the sources reviewed, lemon juice holds about 48.7 g/L of citric acid, while three verjus samples measured 32.4 to 37.7 g/L of titratable acidity as tartaric acid. The pH of the verjus samples ran from 2.51 to 2.53. The two measurements use different acids and methods, so the comparison is indicative.
What does agraz mean in Spanish?
The dictionary of the Real Academia Española defines agraz as unripe grapes and as the juice drawn from them. The entry also covers an iced drink called agrazada and, in Andalusia, the barberry shrub. A bottle labelled agraz verjus refers to the grape juice.
Sources
- Bayram Y. and Elgin Karabacak C., Characterization of Unripe Grapes (Vitis vinifera L.) and Its Use to Obtain Antioxidant Phenolic Compounds by Green Extraction, Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, volume 6, 29 June 2022, DOI 10.3389/fsufs.2022.909894: pH 2.51 to 2.53, titratable acidity 32.38 to 37.71 g/L as tartaric acid, malic acid 20.5 to 27.8 g/L, tartaric acid 9.9 to 16.9 g/L, citric acid 0.4 to 0.5 g/L, 4.1 to 6 °Brix, juice yield 54 to 65 percent, quercetin 89.7 to 122.6 mg/L. Consulted 9 October 2026.
- Penniston K.L., Nakada S.Y., Holmes R.P. and Assimos D.G., Quantitative assessment of citric acid in lemon juice, lime juice, and commercially-available fruit juice products, Journal of Endourology, 22(3), 2008: 1.44 g of citric acid per ounce of lemon juice, 1.38 g for lime juice. Conversion to g/L calculated here on the US fluid ounce of 29.57 mL. Consulted 9 October 2026.
- Bodegas Ochoa (Olite, Navarra, Spain), technical sheet Agraz Verjus: harvest just before veraison, must fermented in stainless steel tanks, alcohol 7 percent, pH 2.78, tempranillo, viura or moscatel depending on the vintage, revival in the 1990s with EVENA and the Academia de Gastronomía de Navarra. Consulted 9 October 2026.
- Bodegas Robles (Montilla, Córdoba, Spain), Agraz-verjus Aliño Andalusí, Salón Gourmets 2026 exhibitor catalogue: juice of agraz grapes picked a few days before veraison, fermentation step mentioned, no alcohol figure. Consulted 9 October 2026.
- Real Academia Española, Diccionario de la lengua española, entry agraz: juice drawn from unripe grapes, unripe bunch, agrazada, barberry shrub in Andalusia. Consulted 9 October 2026.
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, Article 9(1)(k): actual alcoholic strength by volume mandatory for beverages containing more than 1.2 percent alcohol. Consulted 9 October 2026.
- Tasting Table, The French origins of Dijon mustard, citing MyRecipes: Jean Naigeon of Dijon replaced vinegar with verjus in 1856. Consulted 9 October 2026.
Verjus is the pressed juice of unripe grapes, acidic at a pH near 2.5 and built on malic and tartaric acids, and in that form it contains no alcohol from fermentation. The exception is documented: a Navarra agraz verjus is fermented and sold at 7 percent. For an alcohol-free list, the product sheet decides, not the name.