It is difficult for a novice winemaker to navigate the variety of technical vines that provide raw materials for homemade wine.
Each variety is unique in terms of care requirements, fertility, survival, disease resistance, fruit characteristics and other parameters.
Common wine varieties
To help homeowners choose the best types of grapes for wine, Vzboltai has compiled a selection of popular and rare vines grown in Russia.
Isabel
Unpretentious variety with black sweet fruits. Cultivated everywhere. Resistant to fungal diseases and temperature fluctuations, does not tolerate drought. Productivity: high.
Outside the post-Soviet space, it is no longer used for the manufacture of alcohol, in Russia it is grown for home and industrial winemaking.
Berries with a strawberry flavor can be eaten, made into jams and juices.
Fragrant wines from Isabella are not recommended to be stored for a long time: after 3 years they acquire the smell of rot.
Lydia
A common variety with high yields: up to 40 kg of dark red medium-sized grapes can be harvested from one bush.
Unpretentious to climatic conditions and care, decorative, resistant to powdery mildew, but susceptible to phylloxera.
It bears fruit better in the southern Russian regions, where the berries have time to ripen and gain sweetness.
The fruits are high-calorie, medium sugar content (about 19%), tolerate transportation well, but quickly fall off the bush.
Versatile in terms of the use of the harvest: the berries are suitable for eating raw and winemaking.
Merlot
High-yielding, fast-maturing, world famous variety with dark, almost black berries. It is used to create dessert and table wines.
It grows everywhere, resistant to frost and drought, in the cold season requires pruning or shelter.
Light-loving, needs protection from the wind.
Not suitable for acidic soils.
In warm climates, it produces sweet fruits with a lot of juice, in cool areas – more tart. Average sugar content: 19–22%.
Moldova
A popular cultivar with abundant yields, resistant to diseases and cold (tolerates up to -22 ° C).
It bears best fruit in the Krasnodar Territory and the Rostov Region, where large dark purple berries ripen by the end of September.
It belongs to table varieties, but is often used in home winemaking.
Requires shelter for the winter and regular care. Sugar content: 17–18%.
Laura
A versatile early ripening variety with large, yellow-green fruits, suitable for making dessert wines and eating.
Withstands low temperatures (up to -26 ° C), resistant to most diseases.
The yield is high, but unstable: in one year up to 40 clusters can form on a bush, in another – less than 20.
Pinot Noir
The famous French variety, one of the best for winemaking, has successfully taken root in Russia.
Frost-resistant (withstands up to -30 ° C), easy to care for, not demanding on soils, compact bushes.
The properties of the berries vary depending on the conditions, in an unfavorable climate it is prone to peas.
Productivity: average. Sugar content: 20–21%. Susceptible to fungi and diseases.
Alpha
Frost-resistant medium-yielding technical variety with an average ripening period.
From one bush you can collect up to 15 kg of grapes. Resistant to frost and fungus.
The fruits are small, dark blue, sometimes black, sweet-sour. They can be used fresh and for the preparation of wines with a strawberry-muscat taste. Sugar content: 16%.
Solaris
Unpretentious, fruitful variety, well adapted to temperate continental climate.
Tolerates frost down to -30 °C. Used to make white wines and juices.
In warm areas with a lot of sun, the berries ripen by the end of July, in colder regions – later.
The fruits are yellow-green, sweet (22% sugar), with a slight pineapple flavor.
Not picky about soils, but susceptible to diseases.
Bianca
Early ripe, frost-resistant (down to -27 °C), high-yielding variety with round yellow-green fleshy fruits.
Due to the increased sugar content (up to 28%), the grapes are suitable for making sweet fortified wines with floral-honey, almond, vanilla tones.
Can be used to create cognacs and vodkas.
The variety is unpretentious, resistant to diseases, requires normalization of the load with a large number of fruits and abundant watering during a drought.
Lemon Donkey
An early variety, from each bush you can get about 10 kg of light yellow grapes with a citron-nutmeg aroma.
Frost resistance is average: withstands up to -25 ° C.
In warm regions, the fruits ripen well and are used to create table wines, in colder climates they are used to make dessert drinks. Sugar content reaches 19–22%.
The variety is not subject to gray rot, phylloxera, oidium, mildew. Demanding for watering, needs winter shelter.
Платовский
High-yielding, frost-resistant variety of early ripening. It grows in all regions of Russia.
For the winter, it requires shelter in areas with an unstable, harsh climate: in the Far East, the Urals, and Siberia.
White-green fruits have a high sugar content: up to 20%.
Crystal
High-yielding early ripe variety of universal application. Resistant to fungi and gray mold.
It is grown mainly in the Krasnodar Territory, but can be cultivated in the middle lane, where it requires shelter for the winter. Withstands down to -29 °C frost.
In warm areas, juicy yellow-white berries ripen in early August.
Sugar content is moderate: 17–18%. The fruits do not fall for a long time, but are poorly transported. They make pleasant white dry wines, sherry, raisins and juices.
Livadian black
One of the best domestic hybrids, which is very popular with winemakers.
Dark, moderately sweet fruits with a nutmeg aroma make light, harmonious dessert and table drinks with notes of chocolate and prunes.
A variety of early-medium ripening, frost-resistant (up to -25 ° C), immune to most diseases.
Grown in the south and in the middle lane. Photophilous, demanding on the soil (prefers black soil), needs support.
Levokumsky
Cold-resistant variety of early ripening. Tolerates frost down to -27 °C without shelter and up to 40 °C under shelter.
It has long been grown in the Stavropol Territory, it can be cultivated in the Moscow region and regions with a harsh climate.
The fruits are juicy, small, dark blue, sweet (up to 22% sugar).
The yield is relatively low (up to 6–7 kg per bush), but stable.
Muscats Summer and Blau
Versatile varieties: fragrant fruits are suitable for winemaking and fresh consumption.
Frost-resistant, not picky about weather conditions, immune to fungi, withstand up to -25 ° C.
Muscat Summer: early ripening, ideal for growing in the south and in the middle lane, can be cultivated in Siberia and the Urals.
One bush gives up to 25 kg of large golden fruits of high sugar content (25%).
Requires shelter for the winter.
Muscat Blue: medium-yielding, not picky about care, prefers a warm climate, in the northern regions bears fruit well in greenhouses.
Gives dark blue grapes with juicy pulp and a high content of phytoncides.
The quality of the berries improves by mid-autumn.
Cabernet Sauvignon
French variety of late ripening, high yield.
It is used to create excellent table and dessert wines. Resistant to drought and cold, diseases and pests, it takes root better and bears fruit in the southern regions.
Adapts quickly. Needs moderate watering.
Prefers elevated and nutrient soils. The fruits are sweet and sour (19–21% sugar), hold well on clusters, tolerate prolonged rains.
friendship
Unpretentious universal medium-yielding variety, suitable for beginner growers.
Withstands frost down to -23 ° C, requires shelter for the winter and control over the number of ovaries.
Resistant to diseases and fungi. The fruits are light green-white, juicy, rounded, sweet and sour, with a nutmeg aroma and a pleasant taste.
Suitable for making dessert, table wines, champagne, juices. Sugar content: 20%.
Cardinal
Table grape variety. It became widespread in Yugoslavia, France, Italy and other countries. The crown and upper young leaves of the young shoot are light green, without pubescence, with a slight bronze tint at the ends of the teeth.
The leaf is large, rounded, medium dissected, five-lobed, glabrous, shiny, smooth, sometimes slightly wavy.
Heat-loving variety. Its industrial culture can be developed only in areas well supplied with heat. It grows well and bears fruit on the southern and southwestern slopes with light loam, sandy loam, chernozem soils. It has a potentially high, but unstable yield. The number of fruitful shoots on a bush is 67, bunches on a developed shoot 0,9, on a fruitful one 1,3.
The cardinal is unstable to oidium, mildew, bacterial cancer, highly susceptible to gray rot of berries, damaged by grape leafworm.
Rkatsiteli
Georgian grape variety, which has a high value and a medium-late ripening period. It takes root perfectly on the territory of Ukraine, Russia (in Ingushetia and other regions).
Clusters of medium size, reach a length of about 14 cm, while their width is about 7 cm. The berries can be oval or round in shape, and at the same time they reach a length of no more than 18 mm, and a width of up to 14 mm.
Rkatsiteli grapes are colored yellow and have a golden hue, and a bronze speck is formed on the sunny side of the berries. Under the thin, but at the same time strong peel is juicy pulp, which has a peculiar pleasant taste. Each berry contains 3 seeds.
Capricious and rare grape varieties for wine
In addition to vines that are unpretentious in terms of care and climate, domestic winemakers cultivate “special” varieties. The value of such vines is determined by the exceptional quality of the fruit, however, in order to obtain a good harvest, strict adherence to growing conditions is required:
Aligote
High-yielding French variety that has spread throughout the world. Sensitive to frost (withstands up to -23 ° C) and diseases.
In Russia, it is grown mainly in the Krasnodar Territory. Needs plenty of light, nutritious soil and moderate watering.
Fruits: round, strong, yellow-green, juicy, with a delicate taste.
In warm regions, they ripen by mid-September, in cool areas – 2-3 weeks later. Productivity: 90–150 centners per hectare.
Chardonnay
A world-famous variety used to create luxurious white and sparkling wines with muscat-lemon notes.
In Russia, it is grown in southern areas with nutritious soils.
It tolerates drought and frost down to -20 ° C. Requires shelter for the winter, weakly resistant to fungi, infections, pests.
Ripening period: average. Productivity: low.
It is valued for its excellent taste and aromatic qualities of fruits and high juice content.
Pineapple
A heat-loving high-yielding variety of medium-late ripening with amber-green fragrant fruits.
Withstands frosts down to -28 ° C, but prefers a warm climate. It is grown mainly in the southern regions and greenhouses.
Easy to care for, resistant to diseases, but demanding of light and afraid of drafts.
Berries are suitable for the production of ordinary wines with a tropical flavor, fresh consumption.
The fruits are poorly transported due to the thin skin, with a lack of sun they shrink and become sour.
Floral
Frost-resistant (up to -27 ° C) variety of medium late ripening.
The fruits are amber in color, large, round, with a nutmeg aroma, suitable for making wines and juices.
It is sensitive to droughts, in the heat it requires abundant watering, otherwise it dries out.
Resistant to odium but susceptible to gray mold. Productivity: average.
Tsimlyansky black
Aboriginal Don wine variety. It is grown for the production of the famous Tsimlyansky wines, in particular “Tsimlyansky Sparkling”. It is exacting to light and soils, needs protection from wind and severe frosts.
Not sensitive to drought, but prone to disease.
The quality of drinks improves with aging.
Fruits: dark blue, small, juicy, fleshy, with high sugar content (27%). They acquire the best taste after long storage on the vine.
Hamburg muscat
Universal high-yielding English variety. It grows exclusively in the southern regions: it dies at temperatures below 17–19 ° C.
Demanding care, watering, soil quality. Not suitable for novice growers.
The fruits can be used in winemaking and eaten, they are well transported and stored.
Under favorable conditions, purple berries with an intense nutmeg aroma ripen by mid-September.
Some home gourmets are experimenting using purely table varieties for the production of home-made alcohol: Jupiter, Arcadia, Libya, Veles, Valek. They make good drinks, but such grapes are not used in industrial winemaking.
Relevance: 06.05.2019
Tags: wine and vermouth