$910 for grapes? That's a bunch

TOKYO — A new variety of premium grapes debuted in Japan today, with a single bunch fetching as much as $910.

A Japanese hotel manager paid that amount, or about $26 per grape, for a 1 1/2 pound (700-gram) bunch of the Ruby Roman grapes to serve guests at an upscale hotel, officials said.

"We believe the price was probably a record high," said local agricultural official Hirofumi Isu. "They're delicious — sweet but fresh at the same time, very well-balanced."

The tomato-colored grapes made their debut at an auction in Japan's northwestern Ishikawa prefecture, where they have been under development since 1994 in a state-led project.

The bunch that fetched the top price had about 35 grapes, each slightly smaller than a pingpong ball, Isu said.

The average price for the Ruby Roman grapes at today's auction was about $245 a bunch.

Isu said local farmers hope to sell 1,500 bunches, or 1 ton, of the grapes by mid-September.

Fruit is generally expensive in Japan, and people often buy grapes, peaches and melons as luxury gifts. Japanese are often willing to pay top prices for high-end fruits, especially for the prestige of owning the very first ones of the year.

Today's prices far exceeded those for the most popular premium variety, Muscat of Alexandria, which sell for as much as $90 a bunch at Tokyo's Ota fruit market, the country's largest, according to Koichi Kato, an official at fruit wholesaler Tokyo Seika Co.

"It could be a congratulatory price for its debut," Kato said of today's auction in Ishikawa. "Tokyo's largest fruit market is very competitive."