Grapes in central Russia: the best varieties and tips for growing

Back in the middle of the last century, growing grapes in central Russia seemed unlikely. After all, these creepers love the sun and warmth, which is so lacking in areas located near Moscow. Only by perseverance, patience, deep knowledge and many years of work of breeders this barrier was overcome.

From the history of grapes

According to historians and archaeologists, viticulture is at least eight thousand years old. The ancient peoples of Asia and Africa feasted on the sun berries, then it ended up in Europe and conquered both Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire.

Vintage Image

The grape still had a long way to go in the Black Sea and the North Caucasus. Only at the beginning of the XVII century did the first vineyard appear in the Astrakhan region, and then, at the behest of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, and in the Moscow Region, where it was grown by cover method.

At the beginning of the XVIII century, Tsar Peter initiated the first steps of viticulture on the Don - near the villages of Razdorskaya and Tsimlyanskaya.

Cossack selling Tsimlyansk wine, 1875-1876

In the last quarter of the same century, vineyards appeared in the Derbent region, Prikumskaya and Tver regions, and in the second half of the XIX century - in the Kuban.

Grapes in central Russia

The first successes in promoting grapes in the northern regions were achieved by the works of Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin, who crossed American, Amur, North Chinese and Mongolian grape varieties, trying to get a variety more resistant to frost. As a result, he was bred Russian Concord, Bui Tour, Arctic, Metallic.

Now there are many varieties that can be grown in the middle lane. Grape breeders and winegrowers practice in this region, where the summer is rather short, to plant grapes with a short ripening period.

Only in the register of the State Commission of the Russian Federation for the Testing and Protection of Breeding Achievements (FSBI "State Commission") there are several dozen such grape varieties recommended for cultivation in all regions.

Grape varieties with a short ripening period approved for cultivation in all regions - table

Of course, it makes no sense to describe them all. Objective and independent information about them is given in the register of the FSBI "State Commission".

Grapes in central Russia - video

Vine growers, of course, grow not only those varieties that are in the register of the State Commission for Selection Achievements, but also are in the process of testing. Unlike varieties, such grape varieties are called forms. When choosing to grow such plants, the accumulated practical experience plays an important role.

Based on the experience of practicing winegrowers, we consider the grape varieties that feel best when grown in open ground in the middle lane - Ivanovo, Ryazan, Kostroma, Bryansk, Tula, Tver, Kaluga, Vladimir, Lipetsk, Smolensk, Pskov, Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod regions and Moscow region.

Regions of central Russia

When embarking on the cultivation of grapes, beginners in this field should take into account that the tips and recommendations are generalized. A lot, for example, when choosing a variety depends on the specific place where the vine will be grown. Even within the Moscow region, climatic conditions and soil composition are very different in its southern and northern parts.

The difference is really big. Where I live (the city of Naro-Fominsk), the temperature difference with the northern regions of the region is huge! If our snow can melt at the end of March, for example, then in the northern part it can lie for another month. The southern regions win almost a month for farming !!! And this is not enough. The composition of the soil is also different.

Svetlana

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Grape Multicolor: An Overview of the Best Varieties

Exposition of grapes grown in the middle lane

To describe the varieties of grapes grown in the northern regions, the materials and advice of practicing winegrowers Natalya Puzenko, Viktor Deryugin, Yaroslavl winegrower Vladimir Volkov, Olena Nepomnyashchaya - a full member of the Moscow Society of Nature Testers (viticulture section), the owner of a vineyard in the north of the Tver region, were used.

Grape variety Aleshenkin gift

This grape variety is also called Alyoshenkin, Alyosha or No. 328. It is recommended for household cultivation throughout the country by the Federal State Budgetary Institution "State Commission" and has a positive assessment of almost all experienced wine-growers.

Its medium-sized bushes carry loose large clusters in the shape of a wide cone. Oval white berries are medium in size. Inside them is poured pulp with clear juice.

The variety has increased resistance to diseases and pests. They recommend planting it according to the 1.5x2.5 scheme, forming it in the form of a multi-arm fan on a vertical trellis, adjusting the load on the bush within 40-50 eyes.

Variety characteristics Aleshenkin Dar - table

This grape variety is recommended for homestead cultivation throughout the country FSBI "State Commission" and has a positive assessment of almost all experienced winegrowers

I want to stand up for Aleshenkin. We do not grow many varieties, but Aleshenkin is considered very good. At least to take into account that we have thirty-degree frosts every winter, then he suffers a winter sheltered very well. And he has time to ripen, which makes the northern wine-grower happy. Of course, when there is a choice, it is possible to poke fun at the choice of varieties, and for us fishless and crayfish are fishless.

Reg

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Grape variety Pamyatki Dombkowska

This grape is also called ChBZ - black seedless winter-hardy or BW - early black seedless. It is recommended for cultivation in personal vineyards.

Its vigorous bushes give large winged clusters of medium density in the form of a cylinder, converging on a cone. The flowers are bisexual, that is, they do not need pollinating varieties.

Round black berries with pink juicy pulp have no seeds, have a good taste, sometimes covered with a touch of wax. The color of the juice is dark pink.

This grape variety is formed in the form of a multi-arm fan, tied to a vertical trellis. Bushes are planted according to the scheme of 1.5x3 m, the load is given up to 50 eyes.

Grapes in Memory of Dombkowska has increased resistance to pests and diseases, frost resistance.

Variety characteristics of the Memory of Dombkowska - table

This grape is also called ChBZ - black seedless winter-hardy or BW - early seedless black

ChBZ has been grown here in Magnitogorsk, and indeed in the Chelyabinsk region, for many decades. Like Aleshenkin. The variety is proven, quite hardy and vigorous. You can try and uncovered. Remove 70 kg or more from the bush. Taste -? - is no longer Alpha. Eats up.

Victor

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You can definitely go to the gazebo. With regards to wine - so, in my opinion, not very, but it is a matter of taste. In our conditions, mildew is added, and frost resistance is very high.

Krasokhina

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Grapes of Victor Deryugin

Viticulture practitioner Viktor Deryugin successfully grows vines in the suburbs (Ramensky district).

Viticulture practitioner Viktor Deryugin successfully grows vines in the Moscow region (Ramensky district)

In his opinion and experience, in the suburbs should grow grapes ripening for 105-110 days from the start of the growing season. Seedlings grown in containers should be planted when the threat of freezing frost has passed. You can do this all summer, but preferably in early June. If the seedling has an open root system, then the time of planting is shifted to autumn (until the end of October) or early spring after the snow melts.

Among the reliable and proven varieties of winegrower include Agate Don, New Russian, Phenomenon and others. Of the novelties, it recommends the varieties Super Extra, Charlie, White Wonder, Beauty.

On its site, such varieties and forms as F-14-75, Laura, Shunya, Nadezhda Aksayskaya, Victoria, Super Extra, Nakhodka AZOS, Victor, Pervozvanny, Phenomenon (Pleven steady, Augustine), Muscat summer, Gala grow well and bear fruit , Aleshenkin, Cherry, Charlie.

Photo Gallery: Varieties of grapes grown by V. Deryugin in the Moscow Region

Agate Don

Don Agate is a table grape with vigorous bushes resistant to frost and disease. Shoot ripening is good. The variety can be grown in a non-covering culture. The recommended load on the bush is up to 45 eyes when pruning for 5-8 kidneys.

Agate Don flowers are bisexual, there is no problem with pollination. It is recommended to normalize productivity by removing unnecessary brushes, so that the ripening period is not prolonged, the quality of the berries does not decrease.

Agate clusters are moderately dense, sometimes loose. They are large, have the shape of a cone. The taste of round dark blue berries is simple. Inside, they have two seeds.

Characteristics of the variety Agate Donskoy - table

Don Agate - table grapes with vigorous bushes, resistant to frost and disease

My Agate Donskoi is the most stable in a vineyard near Moscow

Alexander Zelenograd

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Hello everyone. A few words about Agate Donskoy. If we take the sum of such advantages: wintering, all kinds of stability, fruiting, load on one bush - then my BP is the leader this year. A lot of varieties froze, continuous peeling due to the heat, sea of ​​tops and few berries! And at Agat Donskoy everything is OK! Minus - of course taste, but it suits me.

Anatoly BC

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Phenomenon

Phenomenon, sometimes referred to as Augustine, Pleven is stable - a table variety of early ripe harvested grapes. Its bushes have great growth power and high resistance to frost.

The flowers of this grape are well pollinated because they are bisexual, resulting in the formation of large clusters of moderate density, having the shape of a cone.

Large oval berries of white with a slight yellowness have a noble harmonious sweet and sour taste, which is highly appreciated by tasters.

Ripe clusters without loss of appearance and quality of berries can remain on the bush for up to three weeks. The phenomenon well transfers transportation over considerable distances.

Variety characteristics Phenomenon - table

Phenomenon, sometimes referred to as Augustine, Pleven steady - table variety of early ripe harvested grapes

A wonderful variety in terms of a combination of economically valuable traits. He "wound up" with me in 1995. All these years he was the most stable and trouble-free. Enumerate the merits of anything, they are all listed above. Milda, if she touched, then in the fall, when you quit treatments already (yes, I’m not particularly fond of them). And it beat only the young tops, unripened yet. Well, well, except that it was he who died out in one year, it seems, in 2006, when our frosts broke all records - it reached -31.2. The bunch is very marketable, demand is stable. And I didn’t notice any particularly hard peel - everything is in order with the water regime. He could have kept silent, listening to more knowledgeable ones, but he is worth it to say a good word about him.

Oleg Marmuta

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A word about Amur grapes

According to Olena Nepomniachtchi, cultivars developed by Alexander Ivanovich Potapenko are interesting for growing in non-covering culture - patriarch of selection work with Amur grapes: Amur breakthrough, Marinovsky, Amethyst, Amur triumph.

Amur breakthrough

The Amur breakthrough grape, also known under the copyright names of Odin and Potapenko 7, stands out because it can withstand frost up to -40 ºС without shelter. The variety was created by the famous grape breeder Alexander Ivanovich Potapenko and his wife.

A.I. Potapenko with a bunch of grapes Amur breakthrough

This versatile mid-early grape. For its breeding, the Amur initial forms were used.

Bushes have a large growth force, can be formed on the gazebo. In this embodiment, with a good supply of perennial wood, an adult bush can produce up to one hundred kilograms of grapes. The vine ripens well at the same time as the crop, regardless of the load of the shoots.

The dark purple round berries of the Amur breakthrough have a juicy flesh with a peculiar taste. Bunches can have a different size, which is very dependent on the growing conditions of the grapes.

The Amur breakthrough, which has a high yield, ripens by the end of August, is well transported, and is not damaged by wasps. This grape is used fresh and for harvesting, making juice and wine.

Variety characteristic Amur breakthrough - table

The Amur breakthrough is very moisture-loving, requires timely watering. For the cultivation of this grape variety, acidic soils with high moisture and air permeability are preferred.

The variety easily tolerates undercutting, plastic adapts to new growing conditions during transplantation.

Since the Amursky breakthrough begins to vegetate earlier than other varieties, young shoots can be damaged by return frosts inherent in the climate of the middle zone, but this does not affect fruiting, since substitute shoots grow, on which the crop is formed.

When cultivated in the middle lane, experienced growers recommend sheltering young vines, despite the high frost resistance of the variety, which is fully manifested in mature vines. In the future, the Amur breakthrough grapes are advised to be removed from the trellis for the winter in order to use the snow cover as a shelter.

In severe frosts, up to a third of the vine can die, but, thanks to the high growth force of the Amur breakthrough, the remaining part is quite enough to completely restore the plant and get a good harvest.

Video: A.I. Potapenko and Amur breakthrough grapes

Reviews of winegrowers

This is an independent direction, which Alexander Ivanovich gave a short and capacious definition - RUSSIAN WINTER-RESISTANT GRAPES. Here is the fruiting of one of the 300 selection seedlings brought to MOIP .... from the Author. Fruiting in the Tver province, 200 km north of Moscow.

Victor Deryugin

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I expected much more from Potapensky varieties. Something at the level of table varieties. Dyuzhe strongly praised them all. Therefore, such indignation and disappointment arose among me ... If we talk about them as techies of average maturity. Then a completely different matter. In this regard, they are suitable. Juice is given easily. It is painted green. My Agat Donskoy cracked after the rains, I had to put it into the wine a little immature. So the color of the juice and the taste are very similar to the juice from Potapensky Amur. True, they do not crack from rains and wasps do not touch them. The Potapensky and Shatilovsky Amur people are not sick with mildew, I have no oidium yet. However, if they are suitable for an uncovered, arched culture, then this changes a lot. I have not tested it yet, I cover all grapes without exception. PS I must say that this is the first fruiting of the Potapensky Amur people. We can say the signaling at 3 kg from two bushes. Perhaps in time my opinion will change. And the year was not typical.

Alex_63

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Frost resistance according to Volkov

Vladimir Volkov with Vovchik grapes

One of the most important qualities of grapes suitable for cultivation in the middle lane, Yaroslavl winegrower Vladimir Volkov considers the frost resistance of the variety. He notes that frosts are well tolerated by vines of those varieties whose shoots have time to mature well and get rid of excess moisture. In particular, this quality is most clearly shown by grapes, the ancestors of which were Amur varieties. They have a broken autumn shoot may seem completely dry. This feature of these types of grapes allows them to easily survive the harsh winter, even under a light shelter from straw and snow, like the variety Sharov Riddle.

in the Yaroslavl region, this grape ripens by early August, among the first - for 100-105 days of vegetation

According to the winegrower, in the Yaroslavl region, this grape ripens by early August, among the first in 100-105 days of vegetation. The clusters are not very large - up to 0.5 kg. The medium-sized round dark blue berries with a thin skin have a dense and juicy flesh. The highest frost resistance is -34 ºС, since the shoots mature perfectly and early.

The collection of V. Volkov now has more than fifty grape bushes. He grows them in open ground, but harbors them for the winter. He advises fellow countrymen for growing grape varieties, about four dozen of which Volkov tested in practice. Among them are the previously mentioned Aleshenkin, BSZ, Victor, Cherry, Pretty Woman, New Russian, First-Called, Super Extra, Charlie, Shun.

At the same time, the viticulturist notes that varieties such as Laura, Nadezhda AZOS, Pleven (Phenomenon, Augustin) called other vineyards are acceptable in other areas of the middle lane and are completely unsuitable for the Yaroslavl land; they cannot be grown in open ground.

Early grape varieties in the open ground of the middle lane

To summarize all that has been said, it should be noted that regarding the cultivation of open grapes in the Middle Strip, the opinion of winegrowers coincided with the recommendation of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "State Commissariat" for such varieties as Aleshenkin Dar, Agat Donskoy, Phenomenon (Pleven Sustainable, Augustine), Amur Breakthrough, In memory of Dombkowska. First of all, they can be recommended to beginner growers.

Late grape varieties in open ground middle strip

Climatic and weather conditions in this region with frosty winters, late frosts in the spring, and the lack of autumn heat do not allow the cultivation of grapes ripening in the open ground here in the late stages. Such varieties of this southern liana can be cultivated here only in greenhouses.

Outdoor wine grape varieties

In the practice of winegrowers working in the middle lane, technical varieties of early ripening are grown, but they are selected so that this period in a particular area comes later as much as possible. This gives the berries time to gain maximum sugar.

According to Olena Nepomniachtchi, who grows grapes in the Tver region, including industrial ones, winemakers in this region widely use grape varieties with proven winter hardiness: Dobrynya, Prim, August PE, Early Dawn, Crystal, Bruskam, Golden Muscat Rossoshansky, Rondo, Magic Marinovsky.

Two of them are included in the state registry - Crystal (very early ripe) and Bruscam (mid-early variety), but the State Commission recommended them for cultivation in the North Caucasus, and Crystal - also in the Lower Volga region. In addition, the state registry indicates early and mid-early technical varieties recommended for cultivation throughout the country: Alievsky, Ermak, Zelenolugsky ruby, Manych, Stremennoy.

Tests (2014), conducted by Olena Nepomniachtchi, allowed her to recommend the following varieties as technical for the middle strip:

• Bianka grapes bred in Hungary - a variety resistant to disease and frost to -27 ºС with medium-sized clusters of about 0.2 kg in weight, yellow-green juicy berries with a harmonious taste and sugar content of 23%;
• German Siegerrebe grapes - disease-resistant super-early variety, resistant to frost -23 ºС, from the berries of which excellent aromatic wines are obtained;
• Solaris - another German selection with a very early maturity, frost resistance up to -24 ºС and sugar content of berries 22-28% gives wines with hints of nuts and pineapple;
• Regent or Alan black (Germany) - a medium early ripening variety with excellent immunity to diseases, stable crops, frost resistance up to -27 ºС, sugar content 21%, acid content 9 g / l;
• Leon Millot is a grape variety resistant to frosts down to -29 ºС, bred in the USA and France, the sugar content of berries reaches 22%, and the light wine obtained from them smells of fruit and a little chocolate;
• Klyuchevskoy domestic variety - medium early, frost resistance up to -29 ºС, sugar content 23%, grape taste harmonious;
• Shatilova 2-72 (white nutmeg) - another Russian early universal variety resistant to diseases, tolerates frosts down to -28 ºС, in berries with a delicate nutmeg taste, sugar 19%;
• Far Eastern Novikova - Russian grape variety, early, frost-resistant up to -28 ºС, resistant to mildew, black grapes taste like blueberries, chokeberry, light muscat;
• Express - a universal disease-resistant early Russian grape variety, frost resistance up to -30 ºС, sugar content 23%, wine yeast should be used in the manufacture of wine;
• Amethyst - Russian grapes of medium early ripening tolerates frosts down to -35 ºС, fruitful, sugar 22%, resistant to mildew, but requires the prevention of oidium disease.

Before starting to grow grapes in one of the areas of the middle band, it is necessary to carefully analyze the climatic, weather and soil characteristics of the proposed planting site and, in accordance with this, consciously choose the suitable variety. The best adviser for making the right decision can be a local experienced winegrower, who in practice knows the features of a particular area.