Grapes are a long-known and beloved fruit culture. Due to the large selection and variety of varieties, it is used fresh as a source of vitamins and delicacies, as well as raw materials for the preparation of fine wines and natural juices. It is not difficult to make unique home-made wine from sun-grown hand-grown berries. You just need to choose the right technical grade and grow grapes.
Features of technical grape varieties
Currently, more than twenty thousand table and technical grape varieties are bred.
The characteristic features of table grapes are as follows:
- Large, attractively colored berries, gathered in heavy clusters.
- The fruits have a dessert flavor, balanced sweetness and acid, dense crisp flesh.
- Frost resistance of table varieties varies from medium to high.
- Resistance to diseases and pests is medium and above average.
- Table varieties are grown mainly in cover crops.
- Fruits are used mainly for fresh consumption.
Grapes of technical (wine) varieties have their own characteristics, including the following:
- Small size evenly colored fruits, with thin skin, discreet appearance.
- Bunches are medium in size and mass.
- High and very high frost resistance (up to -40ºC), which allows you to grow grapes both in cover and in open form.
- High resistance to fungal diseases and pests.
- Unpretentiousness in leaving.
- From technical varieties, raw materials are obtained for the manufacture of wines and wine materials, cognacs, juices, soft drinks. The fruits are also processed into raisins and raisins.
Universal grape varieties are also distinguished as a separate group, which successfully combine the basic qualities of table and technical varieties. Such grapes are in high demand both for food and for processing.
Beckmes, halva, churchkhela, sorbet, grape honey, syrup, jam, marinade and other valuable dietary and food products are prepared from grapes. Some grapes of technical varieties are processed into wine. Waste from grape processing and winemaking is widely used, from which alcohol, enanthic ether, oil, vinegar, tartaric acid, enotanine, fodder yeast, enamels and other products and compounds are produced.
G.S. Morozova"Viticulture with the basics of ampelography", VO "Agropromizdat", Moscow, 1987
The main difference between technical varieties from all others is considered to be a very high content of sugars (up to 30%) and juice (70-90% of the weight of one berry) in the fruits. At the same time, the berries of each variety have a unique taste and aroma that are unique to them.
The most famous grape varieties, which gave the name to the corresponding brands of excellent wines: Chardonnay, various Muscat varieties (Pink, Black, Odessa, Aksaysky), Isabella, Merlot, Aligote, Cabernet Sauvignon, Saperavi, Riesling, Rkatsiteli.
The high sugar content of the fruits, their strictly defined chemical composition, the ratio of the total mass of berries in the bunch and the mass of the comb - all these indicators determine the quality of future grape wines. Of great importance for obtaining high quality raw materials are:
- grape growing conditions
- soil composition
- annual sum of active temperatures.
Video: commercial grape cultivation
Unpretentious care allows cultivating industrial grape varieties in an industrial way on large plantations. At the same time, planting seedlings, tillage (fertilizer, irrigation, cultivation) and harvesting are carried out using mechanized plants.
Also known are wine varieties specifically designed for home gardening, in particular:
- Alievsky,
- Manych
- Stirrup
- Zelenolugsky Rubin,
- Citron Magaracha.
Technology for growing grapes of technical varieties
In general terms, the technology for growing grapes of technical varieties is not fundamentally different from growing other varieties.
Planting grape seedlings
Grapes of technical varieties, like table ones, prefer light, warm, loose soils that have a neutral or close to acid reaction (pH 6.5-7.0). It is desirable that crushed stone fractions and sand are present in the soil. This gives it properties such as good water and air permeability. It has been noted that juices and wines from grapes grown on stony soils of tectonic origin have a finer harmonious taste, while the varietal bouquet is enhanced, the transparency and the ability of the wine to age, and juice to long-term storage are enhanced. Although the experience of growing grapes on acidic soils shows that even under such conditions, high-quality wines and juices are obtained from it. In this case, the varietal characteristics of the plant play an important role. For example, the Riesling, Sylvaner and Traminer pink grape varieties prefer soils with a pH of 4-5. In an acidic environment, roots absorb microelements more actively, and in soil with a neutral or close reaction, macroelements.
Warmer areas should be reserved for late-ripening grape varieties, as well as for varieties with higher sugar content of berries (table, raisin-raisin) and, conversely, colder grapes for early ripening varieties, as well as varieties whose crop is intended for production of champagne and light table wines with low sugar content and high acidity.
G.S. Morozova"Viticulture with the basics of ampelography", VO "Agropromizdat", Moscow, 1987
The plot for planting grapes should be flat or with a slight (5-8 degrees) slope, well-lit throughout the day. To protect plants from cold winds, it is recommended that the rows of the future vineyard be placed along the structure, high fence or adult fruit trees forming a continuous wall.
Being a crop with high drought tolerance, grapes cannot tolerate moist, swampy, and saline soils. When determining the site for planting, the level of standing groundwater should be taken into account - it should not be less than 1.2-1.3 m from the surface of the earth.
For planting, we choose annual seedlings 0.4-0.5 m high with five to seven buds and a trunk diameter of about 4-8 mm. In a seedling with an open root system, the roots should be carefully examined: they should be white, clean, without thickening and mold.
If the seedling is purchased in early spring, it should be planted in a container with a volume of two to five liters (depending on the size of the root system) and stored in a warm place (+ 20-25ºC) until the time of landing in the ground. In the middle zone, the best time for planting grapes for a permanent place in the garden is the end of May - beginning of June, when the soil steadily warms up to + 12-15ºFROM. In the southern regions, the grape planting period is postponed a month earlier, to April-May.
There are various ways of planting grape seedlings: in a pit, under a shovel, on an earthen mound. Depending on the time of planting and the region of cultivation, the most suitable method is chosen. Experienced winegrowers, planning a spring planting, prepare a planting pit in the fall, season it with humus or compost and leave it until spring. If there are no such conditions, then in the spring it is advisable to dig a hole in advance, about a month before planting the seedlings.
The soil on the cultivation site may be poor, infertile. In this case, in water for irrigation (standing, warm + 20-28ºC) 20-40 g of mineral complex fertilizer (nitroammofosk, azofosk, nitrophoska) and 10-20 g of ammonium nitrate per 10 l of water should be added.
Planting in spring a seedling with a closed root system (ZKS) occurs as follows:
- At the bottom of the finished hole you need to fill two buckets of small (5-12mm) granite rubble, gravel or expanded clay for drainage.
- A nutritious soil mixture is prepared in advance: 2 liter cans of wood ash, 2 buckets of humus or compost, 1 bucket of sand and 2 buckets of turf (garden) earth; in total, 4-5 buckets of the mixture should be obtained.
- Half of the prepared soil should be poured over the drainage, a small mound should be made in the middle of the pit, and a seedling should be planted, having previously been released from the container. The roots of the seedling should be located at a depth of about 0.45 m from the ground.
- For the convenience of watering and top dressing, a drainage pipe is installed next to the seedling (a plastic tube with a diameter of 8-10 mm with a perforated surface). After filling the pit, the pipe must be cut at a height of 10 cm from the ground.
- Then the seedling is watered with warm, settled water and after absorbing the water, it is covered with the remaining soil to 1/2 the height of the seedling.
- The soil surface around the bush is mulched with humus or peat, dry grass.
- In autumn, a pit with a young seedling needs to be filled up to the top with the formation of a mound above a bush 20-30 cm high
Video: planting grape seedlings in the open ground
For technical grape varieties, it matters what the soil is covered between rows of bushes. You can mulch it with dry grass, compost or sow green manure. But experienced growers recommend covering the soil between the rows with a layer of coarse gravel, which will be a good conductor and heat accumulator. This will protect the soil surface from compaction, and will also prevent rainwater runoff and its evaporation. Thus, more favorable conditions for the growth and development of grapes will be created.
Feeding and watering grapes
When growing grapes of technical varieties, a stable and high yield of appropriate quality can be obtained only if all the rules of agricultural technology are observed, including the regular use of fertilizers and top dressing in certain phases of plant development. The main fertilizer is applied to the planting pit once in the spring or in the fall, depending on the time of planting. After planting for two to three years, seedlings do not need fertilizer.
Adult grape bushes are fertilized with organic matter (manure, humus, compost) once every three to four years, 3-4 kg / m² (on poor soils - 6-8 kg / m²) Simple (ammonium nitrate, urea, superphosphate, potassium salts) and complex fertilizers (nitrophoska, azofoska, ammofoska, nitroammofoska) are used as mineral fertilizers.
In the spring, fertilizers applied in liquid form are better absorbed, in the fall - in granular or in the form of a powder.
According to the method of delivery of nutrients to various parts of the plant, top dressing is divided into root and foliar. Roots are introduced into the soil under the bushes, foliar - by spraying grape leaves.
When caring for grape bushes, they are fed under the root at least four times during the growing season:
- In the spring (two weeks before flowering) - urea, superphosphate and potassium salt. The amount of fertilizer applied depends on the grape variety and growing conditions and is determined by the instructions. Nitrogen and potassium fertilizers are used in liquid form, phosphoric - in dry.
Urea can be replaced with ammonium nitrate.
- After flowering, when the berries reach the size of a small pea, top dressing is repeated with the same composition, but the proportion of the nitrogen component is halved.
- In June-July, during the period of filling and ripening of berries, top dressing is performed using only superphosphate and potassium salt, nitrogen compounds are excluded.
- After harvesting, in September-October, the time comes for the last feeding. At this time, the grape bush should be given nitrogen in the form of organic matter (humus or compost) and mineral fertilizers as part of superphosphate, wood ash and ammonium sulfate. All the components of fertilizing are introduced into the soil between the bushes for deep digging. Due to the fact that plants receive a supply of nutrients for the winter, their winter hardiness increases, the vine ripens better.
Video: fertilizing and fertilizing grapes
In late summer or early autumn, after harvesting, it is very useful to treat grape bushes with mineral compounds containing trace elements (MicroMix Universal, Polydon Iodine) in accordance with the instructions.
Foliar feeding of grapes activates the flowering process, allows you to get full ovaries and further improve the quality of berries, their taste and sugar content, increase yield from the bush. The time of foliar top dressing, as well as the root, depends on a certain period of plant development. Spraying is carried out a week before flowering, two weeks after flowering and three weeks before harvesting. For this type of feeding, use an infusion of wood ash or ready-made preparations:
- Plantafol
- Kemira
- Novofert,
- Master.
To get a good result, you need to strictly follow the instructions for use of each drug.
The optimal weather conditions for foliar processing of grapes is considered a cloudy day with an air temperature of about 20ºC (not lower than 15 and not higher than 25 degrees).
Video: foliar grape top dressing
Grapes of technical varieties refers to a culture quite drought-resistant and unpretentious in care. Therefore, watering the bushes, which is also part of the growing process, is carried out as necessary, taking into account the amount of natural rainfall. During the first year after planting in a permanent place, the seedling needs watering once a week. In case of hot weather in summer, watering is allowed daily or every other day.
Later, in the process of grape care, irrigation is combined with fertilizing, if possible, the water consumption for one bush is 4-6 buckets (40-60 l). You can not water the bushes in spring during flowering; in summer, watering is stopped two to three weeks before the berries fully ripen.
For better ripening of the vine and activation of root growth in the fall after leaf fall produce the last (moisture-charging) watering. It can significantly increase the winter hardiness of the bushes.
Video: water the grapes correctly
Pruning
Trimming grapes of technical varieties for covering and non-covering crops varies in terms of timing. In any case, the shoots should be trimmed during the dormant period of plants, before the start of the vegetation process. For non-covering technical varieties with high frost resistance, the bushes are cut in the autumn-winter period, 15-20 days after leaf fall, and continue all winter (on frost-free days) until buds open in spring. The limitation for the trimming process is only lowering the temperature below minus five degrees.
For covering grape varieties, pruning is carried out in two stages:
- preliminary (autumn) - before the onset of cold weather and shelter of bushes for the winter. Pruning is done on a ripened vine to form new fruit links.
- main (spring) - after opening the bushes in early spring, before the buds open.At the same time, the number of intact fruit buds (eyes) is determined and the necessary load of the bush is established. During spring pruning, all damaged, weak and fattening shoots, old sleeves without fruiting vines are removed.
The load of the bush by shoots (eyes) is the number of fruit buds that remains on the bush after pruning. It provides a high yield without reducing the strength of the bushes in subsequent years.
There are the following methods of trimming: short, up to 4 eyes - on the queen cells, capitate and cordon formations, knots of substitution; average, up to 7-8 eyes - when pruning fruit vines of most varieties in the covering zone; long, from 9 to 14 eyes - on vigorous varieties and in the gazebo culture. In most areas of viticulture, mixed pruning is used - short and medium
A.Yu. Rakitin "Fruit growing. Golden councils of the Timiryazev Academy." Lik Press Publishing House, Moscow, 2001
For technical grape varieties, there is a generally accepted system for determining the approximate length of the pruning of the vine in the covering zone of cultivation:
- up to 4-5 eyes - weak shoots with a diameter of 5-6 mm;
- from 8 to 10 ocelli - early varieties (Aligote, black Muscat varieties);
- from 2 to 14 ocelli - middle and late varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Traminer, white Muscat varieties).
Video: grape pruning technique
Grape processing for diseases and pests
Given the varietal characteristics, all technical varieties for resistance to diseases and pests can be divided into three groups:
- comprehensively stable;
- varieties with medium resistance;
- unstable to fungal diseases and phylloxera.
The first group includes varieties, usually with high frost resistance, which are successfully cultivated in the northern regions and the middle climatic zone. This is Crystal, Platovsky, Ruby, Azos, Stanichny. In addition, the varieties Zelenoluchsky Rubin, Stremenny, Cabernet Sauvignon are immune to fungal diseases, and Platovsky, Cabernet AZOS, Krasnostop AZOS, Gift of Magarach are tolerant to phylloxera. Grapes of these varieties under favorable growing conditions for prevention can be treated with fungicides. One or two sprayings are made during the growing season.
For safe processing use ready-made preparations of Kemira, Fitosporin with the addition of Zircon, as well as a solution of potassium permanganate. In early spring, it is advisable to spray the bushes with a 3% Bordeaux mixture (300 g of the mixture per 10 liters of water) or 5% solution of iron sulfate (500 g per 10 liters of water).
Video: seasonal processing of grapes from fungal diseases
Grape varieties of medium and weakly resistant to fungi should be treated with fungicides in all periods of plant development. For spraying the bushes, more powerful and effective means are used than during the maintenance work: Ridomil Gold, Champion, Quadris 250, Acrobat, Sumylex. According to the rules of agricultural technology, grape processing is carried out five times per season:
- when opening bushes in early spring;
- with the opening of the kidneys and at the beginning of the blooming of leaves;
- before flowering (7-10 days);
- after flowering (20-30 days before harvesting);
- after the autumn pruning of the vine before shelter for the winter.
When determining the concentration of a fungicide solution for spraying, the requirements of the instructions for use of the drug should be strictly observed. Processing in calm weather, in the morning or evening, observing safety rules (safety glasses, gloves, long-sleeved clothing).
Video: protecting the vineyard from disease
The pests that most often affect grapes include grape aphids - phylloxera, spider web and grape mites, as well as butterfly butterflies (grape and bunch). Strong and well-groomed bushes are little affected by pests. The key to good resistance to them is regular weeding of the soil from weeds, top dressing and watering, good ventilation of the bushes, as well as pest resistance inherent in the varietal qualities of grapes.
Video: phylloxera - grape aphid
Destroy the phylloxera by repeatedly treating the bushes with dichloroethane or with Aktellik and Kinmiks insecticide solutions. With a strong defeat of the vineyard by aphids, the bushes are cut down under the root and burned. With a small amount of pest as a "folk remedy" parsley is sown along the perimeter of the vineyard and in the aisles, the smell of which repels aphids.
To combat ticks, the insecticidal preparations Tiovit Jet, Phosphamide and a 2% solution of colloidal sulfur (200 g of sulfur in 10 liters of water) are used. A safer application is provided by biological agents for pests - Actofit, Haupsin, Fitoverm. Leafworms are destroyed by spraying grapes with insecticides Arrivo, Fastak, Fufanon, Karbofos, Aktara. With a large number of caterpillar caterpillars, a good result is the treatment of the shoots with the biological action drug Bitoxibacillin.
Video: processing grapes from a grape tick (itching)
The best technical grape varieties
The determining factors when choosing a technical grade are the fruit ripening period, high stable yield, resistance to fungal infections, a sufficient level of frost resistance. In the climatic conditions of the middle zone, northern regions, the Urals and Siberia, it is advisable to grow early grape varieties. Early ripening allows the fruit to collect the required amount of sugars before the end of the season, and the vine - to fully mature and prepare for wintering. In the southern regions, middle, late and very late varieties are cultivated, which are damaged by frost and require a large amount of heat (with an annual sum of active temperatures of more than 3000 degrees).
Video: the best wine grape varieties
Early grape varieties
For regions of northern viticulture, the most valuable are varieties with a short growing season, early ripening of berries and high frost resistance:
- Aligote,
- Bianca
- Black and pink nutmegs
- Crystal,
- Riddle of Sharov,
- Platovsky,
- Gift of Magarach,
- Rkatsiteli Magaracha and a number of others.
The best varieties are considered zoned in a given area.
If winemaking is a priority area of viticulture in the region, then grape varieties corresponding to their particular brands are used for making wines.
Video: Grape variety Riddle of Sharov
Table: characteristics and features of early technical grades
Name varieties | Recommended region growing | Term ripening | Weight bunches | Fruit (color, mass) | Taste fruits juice coloring | Content sugars / acids,% | Productivity kg / bush | Frost resistance | Resistance to diseases and pests | Main direction wine tasting assessment (in points) |
Pomegranate Magaracha | North Caucasian | Early | 187 g | Blue and black 1.4-1.6 g | The taste is solanaceous, wine red juice | 23,5/7,7 | 1,04 | Above average, to -25ºC, uncovered | Medium, affected by mildew, gray rot | Dessert wines 7.82 out of 8 |
Zelenolugsky Rubin * | All regions | Early | 204 g | The black, 1.6-2 g | Unflavored, colorless juice | 19,7/7,3 | 1,15-1,5 | High, up to -28ºC, uncovered | Disease immunity phylloxera resistance | Dry wines 7.7 out of 8 |
Manych * | All regions | Early | 198 g | Blue and black 1.6-2 g | Flavorless, colorless juice | 20/8 | 1,31 | High, up to -25ºC, uncovered | Medium, amazed fungal diseases | Dry wines 8 out of 10 |
Nutmeg pink | North Caucasian | Mid early | 126 g | Red, 1.6 g | Muscat flavor, colorless juice | 25,3/7,8 | 0,88 | Above average, to -25ºC, uncovered | Medium, amazed fungal diseases | Dessert wines 9.2 out of 10 |
Nutmeg the black | North Caucasian | Mid early | 77 g | Blue and black 1.6 g | Muscat flavor, colorless juice | 24,7/7,5 | 0,91 | Above average, to -25ºC, uncovered | High fungal resistance diseases | Dessert wines 9.3 out of 10 |
Gift of Magarach | North Caucasian | Early | 185 g | White, 1.4-1.6 g | Taste harmonious, colorless juice | 19,3/13,1 | 0,85-1,53 | Above average, to -25ºC, uncovered | High resistance to mildew, gray rot, phylloxere | Table wines, 7.4 out of 8 |
Stirrup * | All regions | Early | 165 g | White, 1.4-1.8 g | Taste harmonious, colorless juice | 19,5/8,7 | 0,93-1,25 | High, up to -28ºC, uncovered | Disease immunity, phylloxera resistance | Dry wines 7.8 out of 8 |
* Varieties are recommended by the State Register of Breeding Achievements Approved for Use for Growing in a Household Economy.
Video: Platovsky grape variety
Photo Gallery: early wine grape varieties
- The classic Aligote wine variety is one of the best for the production of white table wines and champagne wine materials.
- From Pinot Noir grapes (Pinot black) prepare high quality dry and table wines of saturated red color
- White Muscat berries have an amazing taste with a strong muscat aroma, which allows you to use grapes both fresh and for making white wines and juices for baby food
- Very high (up to -35ºС) frost resistance and disease resistance make the Crystal variety indispensable for cultivation in non-covering culture
Late grape varieties
Late technical varieties are characterized by a long ripening period (from 135 to 160 days), which allows you to harvest in late September - early October. Such conditions are created by the climate of the southern regions with long warm autumn. Basically, grapes are grown in non-covering culture. Later varieties are used mainly in winemaking.
Table: characteristics and features of late technical grades
Name varieties | Recommended region growing | Term ripening | Weight bunches | Fruit (color, mass) | Taste fruits juice coloring | Content sugars / acids,% | Productivity kg / bush | Frost resistance | Resistance to diseases and pests | Main direction wine tasting assessment (in points) |
Cabernet AZOS | North Caucasian | Late | 305 g | Navy blue, 1.6-1.8 g | Taste harmonious, colorless juice | 18/8,3 | 1,21 | Medium, takes shelter for the winter | Slightly amazed mildew, oidium | Dessert wines 9 out of 10 |
Cabernet Sauvignon | North Caucasian, Lower Volga | Mid-late | 75 g | Black with a touch of light 1.6 g | Original solanaceous flavor, colorless juice | 22/7,5 | 0,7-1,2 | High, up to -25ºC, uncovered | Medium, amazed fungal diseases | Red table and dessert wines |
Muscat Aksay | North Caucasian | Very late | 250-300 g | White with strong waxed raid 1.5-1.8 g | Harmonious nutmeg taste, colorless juice | 19,3/13,1 | 0,85-1,53 | Above average, to -25ºC, uncovered | Increased resistance to mildew, gray rot phylloxere | Dessert wines |
Firstborn of Magarach | North Caucasian | Mid-late | 200 g | White, 1,6-1,8 | The taste is harmonious, simple, without aroma | 22/8 | 1,2-1,5 | High, up to -25ºC, uncovered | Increased resistance to mildew, gray rot phylloxere | White table and dessert wines |
Ruby AZOS * | All regions | Mid-late | 240 g | Navy blue, 2 g | The taste is harmonious, pink juice | 20/7,8 | 1,07 | Above average, to -25ºC, uncovered | Resistant to disease and pests | Red table wines 7.9 out of 8 |
Saperavi | North Caucasian, Lower Volga | Late | 120-170 g | Dark blue with a touch 0.9-1.4 g | The taste is simple, sour colorless juice | 17,8/6,5 | 0,8-1,2 | Above average, to -23ºC, uncovered | Medium, amazed fungal diseases | Dry red wines |
Stanichny | North Caucasian | Mid-late | 241 g | White, 1,8 | Unflavored, colorless juice | 19,9/8,8 | 1,98-2,89 | High, up to -28ºC, uncovered | High resistance to fungal diseases phylloxera tolerance | Dry wines 8.6 out of 10 |
* The variety is recommended by the State Register of Breeding Achievements Approved for Use for Growing in a Household Economy.
Photo gallery: late wine grape varieties
- The legendary high-yielding variety Rkatsiteli is successfully used in the production of table and dessert wines, as well as high-quality natural grape juices
- Thick red juice gives dessert wines from Odessa grapes a rich black ruby hue and a unique fresh taste with chocolate tones
- White table and dry Chardonnay wines are in constant demand among connoisseurs of quality wine
- The classic Georgian Saperavi northern grape variety has proven itself due to its high frost resistance (up to -25ºС) and resistance to fungal diseases
Video: Aliberna grape variety
Homemade grape wine, made with your own hands from your favorite varieties of sunny berries - which can be tastier and more pleasant! There are many brands of wonderful wines from the beloved Cabernet Sauvignon, Isabella, Merlot, Aligote, various varieties of Muscat. Have you tasted blended wine? Each wine variety has its advantages and disadvantages: one has an unusual flavor, but low sugar content, the other, on the contrary, has a lot of sugars, and the taste is simple. I want to share the memories of my youth, as my grandfather made blending wine. He had many recipes, as well as grape varieties, but there was one, the most beloved. Which could be drunk without hopping, and during the feast he “flew away” first of all. In autumn, the Saperavi grapes ripened earlier than anyone else on the plot - his grandfather called him "Georgians". I did not like him - too sour and tasteless. When at the end of September the Saperavi berries gathered their wonderful deep blue color, the grandfather cut the bunches from the bush, slightly doused with water and put them in a “crush” - a huge clay pot. The berries were crushed with a large wooden pusher - "bastard", as my grandfather called it. After crushing the grapes, a little sugar was added to the resulting slurry, the dishes were covered with a piece of cloth and determined in the kitchen, in the warmest place in the house. There she stood for several days. Grandfather mixed gruel in the morning and evening, until it began to bubble and rise to the top of the bowl. Pink froth appeared on the surface of the slurry, and sour meat smelled in the kitchen. After that, the pulp, which is called pulp for winemakers, was squeezed and filtered through a sieve. Sugar was added to the obtained light pink liquid, poured into a large bottle, and a rubber glove was put on top of the neck. A week later, the glove on the bottle looked like a human hand - it was swollen from fermented grape yeast. Grandfather added sugar to the fermented liquid three times a little and put the glove on the bottle again. So a month passed, and one fine day the glove ceased to inflate, dropped, snickled and grandfather said: “Done!”. A turbid pinkish liquid was filtered from the precipitate and cleaned for a month in a cold cellar for settling and clarification. While my grandfather was making wine from Saperavi, about a week later the Black Opiana grapes ripened - my favorite, with juicy, sweet berries of a very dark, almost black color. I especially liked the freshly squeezed juice from this grape, with a very pleasant, light muscat taste. The berries of the Black Opiana went through the same process as Saperavi. A week - ten days after the opiana, the grandfather was harvesting the latest variety in his vineyard - Odessa Black. I also liked this variety with an unusual flavor of berries - it strongly resembled the taste of cherries. When young wine was ready from Odessa black, as well as from the previous varieties, it was already deep autumn in the yard. Grandfather took out all the bottles of wine from the cellar and real witchcraft began. He took a little of each wine and mixed them in a certain proportion. I tried, shook my head in displeasure and mixed again. “The sweetness and aroma of Odessa and Black Opiana should not clog Saperavi’s sourness, but should harmoniously combine with it. So that the wines are not interrupted, but complement each other’s unique taste,” my grandfather used to say. When the blending process was completed, the finished wine masterpiece was poured into glass bottles and sent to the cellar for final ripening and decoration. On New Year's Eve, the finished "drink of the gods" was served on the table.Merging in an incomparable taste, the harsh hues of plums and cherries were smoothed out with delicate nutmeg, and the sparkling ruby color of the wine created a truly festive mood.
Technical grape varieties in Ukraine
Given the presence of various climatic zones on the territory of Ukraine, almost all the grape varieties considered above are suitable for growing in the local conditions of a certain region. In the northern regions of Ukraine, frost-resistant varieties with early ripening should be planted, in the central and southern ones, middle and late varieties, in a cover culture.
The grapes of the Chardonnay and Riesling Rhine wine varieties are, respectively, medium and medium late varieties. Each type of berry has its own varietal taste and a very thin delicate shell. Both varieties are relatively frost-resistant, withstand cold up to -18-20ºC, but in winter they require shelter. Grapes are susceptible to infection with fungal infections (especially oidium), therefore, it requires regular treatment from diseases and pests. In winemaking, the Riesling Rhine and Chardonnay varieties are used to make dry white wines.
Video: Riesling Rhine and Chardonnay varieties
The thermophilic Merlot grape has a French origin, but has long been firmly established in the vineyards of southern Ukraine. The thick blue-black berries are distinguished by a delicate taste with an original nightshade flavor. The clear juice of this grape is used in the production of table and dessert red wines.
Video: Merlot wine variety
The good old Isabella is already considered a "classic of the genre." Probably, there is no such country or personal plot either in the North or in the South, where the dark-blue grapes so familiar to many with the flavor of wild strawberry unusual for this culture did not grow. Isabella is sometimes confused with Lydia grapes, also wine, but with burgundy berries. The non-covering form of cultivation, combined with high winter hardiness and disease resistance, allows the use of Isabella grapes for decoration of arbors, arches and for decorating the walls of a house. Unpretentious care and the ability to make good home-made wine from berries makes it possible even for a novice gardener to plant this variety and get a good harvest of fragrant berries.
Video: Isabella grapes
Reviews of winegrowers
Riesling Rhine. I have only two bushes so far, I doubted whether it would ripen. This year was the first fruiting, sugar level 23.8, but I still do not seriously consider this excellent indicator - a good year, a small load. I do not plan to do a high load in the future, 2-3 kg from the bush, we will fight for the quality of the wine. Sugar content in this variety can be from 16 to 40 brix (this is a must at the exit when squeezing ice-cream grapes on ice vine). As Valuyko writes in the book “Grape Wines,” the optimum aromatics is observed in the Riesling variety with a sugar content of 17%, but in reality the most aromatic wines are obtained from late harvest grapes, i.e. with much higher sugar content. In order to get good quality wine from this variety, it is enough to have a sugar level of about 17 and above. In Germany, they make excellent wines with an alcohol level of up to 9%, while the wine is very balanced, aromatic, sometimes with residual sugar, in our opinion semi-dry.
Prikhodko Alexander, Kiev//forum.vinograd.info/showthread.php?t=1925
Hello everyone from Magnitogorsk. 8 years ago, planted the first Alpha (accidentally cuttings fell into the hands). Fruits for 5 years. It always ripens. On it I learned to cut, shape. Now without shelter in the gazebo. Pink nutmeg should begin fruiting this year, although the bush is about 5 years old, but had to be transplanted to another place in the 3rd year. On Alpha in early April, he vaccinated Aleshenkin in three ways - with a shield, in a cut and in a split. Pasoka has already gone a little. I decided to just try it, and because of the space saving - after all, Alpha was the very first, and it takes the best place - I decided to put it to experiments. Land on the mountain, a slight slope to the south, southwest. I consider the conditions ideal for our region.
Vic, Magnitogorsk//forum.vinograd.info/showthread.php?t=62&page=5
Harvest Aligote pleased. Cut off on October 1. On average, from the bush of the 4th year of vegetation, 7.7 kg was obtained. The crop did not ration. On some shoots even 4 clusters were tied, while the ripening of both grapes and vines was excellent. A very sunny variety, when lightening bunches of burns, there were practically no burns, only tan and sugar were added. The season was excellent.
vilend Victor, Kharkov//forum.vinograd.info/showthread.php?t=4830&page=3
Bianca The variety is excellent. I grow up for about 8 years in an arbor form and I think that such a form is the best for him. Productivity is high, stable. For example, last year I took about 18-20 kg from a high-stem bush. This year gave him even more scope, I hope to get a little more - the variety calmly bears almost the entire load, I break out only the most “dead” shoots with inflorescences. Bunches are mainly from 50 to 200 g. On the shoot, depending on the strength of its growth, I leave from 2 to 3 bunches (i.e. virtually all or almost all). The complex stability is high, in my conditions in July-August sometimes sometimes in some places slightly grabs mildew. Berries are not affected by anything. High quality Bianchi wine and juice. In conditions of "wild" fermentation, a light semisweet wine with soft sherry tones is obtained. The variety is practically problem-free (I remind you: I write for my conditions).
Poskonin Vladimir Vladimirovich, Krasnodar//forum.vinograd.info/showthread.php?t=4351
Based on the variety of technical grape varieties, each amateur gardener chooses one that more closely matches his preferences. Unique homemade wine, fragrant and sweet grape juice, raisins, churchkhela - this is not a complete list of yummy, which can be prepared from your own grapes.