I was only dimly aware of Grape Vines until recently, when I went tracking down a particular variant of Red Vines.  

(Still no luck finding the all-natural version, Natural Vines, by the way.  The Red Vines website says they're available at Haggen stores here in Washington.  I visited my nearest local Haggen store (20 miles away) and they didn't have any.  But they did have the authentic Haribo black licorice wheels imported from Germany.  

I meant to bring them home and photograph them and write a review, but I ate them all on the drive home and then I had a tummy ache but I was not sorry.  So I guess that's my review of imported Haribo licorice wheels: too delicious to wait until you get home.)

Anyway, as I was trying to track them down, I kept noticing that Grape Vines were consistently listed as "out of stock."  And that the official Red Vines Twitter stream was informing people when Grape Vines were restocked at various retailers.  So obviously Grape Vines are a pretty big deal to some people!

I had never actually tried Grape Vines.  Every time I saw some, they were always sitting beside a box of Red Vines.  And since I like Red Vines, the Red Vines actually won.

(One more digression: speaking of Red Vines winning, the last time I went to Safeway they had both Red Vines and Twizzlers on sale 50% off.  Every single package of Red Vines was gone, but about half the Twizzlers remained.  Which is as certain a public referendum on Red Vines vs Twizzlers as you could possibly want.)

I kept an eye out for Grape Vines, and finally spotted a pack at the small store in town.  It's one of those stores that's bigger than a convenience store, but smaller than a real grocery store.  If you happen to be in La Conner, Washington and you have a hankering for Grape Vines, check the Pioneer Market!

When I opened the package and the smell wafted out, I was hooked.  Grape Vines smell like grape soda and grape Bubble Yum and childhood and happiness.  Grape isn't a flavor that you find very often these days, which is a shame.  

The taste is slightly less grape-y than the smell, which frankly may be a good thing.  Don't get me wrong; they're still plenty grape.  But the smell is a little overwhelming.  The actual candy has a flavor that is much lower on the scale of candy flavors than the smell, which is very bright and high-pitched, if that bit of synaesthesia makes any sense.

Grape Vines have all the other qualities that make Red Vines great: the sturdy texture, the lack of fat and preservatives, the simple ingredients, and the overall deliciousness.  But combine the unusual grape flavor with the relative rarity of the product, and you've got something special.  I don't half wonder if I shouldn't hustle back to the store, buy out all their Grape Vines, and flip them on eBay for a tidy little profit!