Kirgizskii Rannii

Main Characteristics

The variety was bred by breeders E. I. Sosina and V. A. Gavrilova in 1955 at the Kirghiz Research Institute of Agriculture through the hybridization of Madeleine Angevine and Muscat Hongrois. It is distributed in the Kirghiz SSR and also zoned in the Kherson region of the Ukrainian SSR. The Kirgizskii Rannii grape variety belongs to the group of very early ripening varieties. At the Tsyurupinsk state variety trial plot, the period from the beginning of bud break to the harvest maturity of the berries is 114 days. According to the mechanical composition of the cluster, it is a table variety. The average tasting score of the grapes at the Tsyurupinsk state variety trial plot is 7.4 points, and at the Alushta plot — 7.9 points.

The bushes are characterized by vigorous growth. The ripening of the shoots is good and reaches 82%. The yield indicators of the variety are high: over four years of full fruiting at the Tsyurupinsk state variety trial plot in the Kherson region, the average yield was 93.2 c/ha, at the Alushta state variety trial plot in the Crimea region with high-standard vine training — 191 c/ha, and at the Chernomorsk plot — 117.8 c/ha. The percentage of productive shoots is 47; the average number of clusters per developed shoot is 0.56, and per productive shoot is 1.23. By the time of harvest, the sugar content of the juice is 15.2 g/100 ml with a titratable acidity of 7 g/l.

Morphological Description of the Kirgizskii Rannii Grape Variety

• Young shoot (shoot tip): the shoot tip and the young shoot are wine-red in color and have pubescence consisting of white hairs. Young leaves are round in shape, deeply lobed, five-lobed.
• Annual mature shoot: brown in color.
• Formed leaf: characterized by medium size, five-lobed, deeply lobed, sometimes asymmetric. The surface of the leaf blade is net-wrinkled, the blade itself is funnel-shaped. The upper lateral sinuses are closed, with an ovate lumen; the lower lateral ones are predominantly open, lyre-shaped, with almost parallel sides. The upper lateral lobes exceed the central lobe in size. The petiolar sinus is closed, spindle-shaped. The terminal teeth are large, triangular, with an elongated apex; the marginal teeth are smaller, triangular, acute, with an curved apex. On the lower side of the leaf blade, there is dense bristly pubescence. The autumn color of the leaves acquires a yellowish-brown tint.
• Flower: hermaphroditic.
• Cluster: of medium size, conical in shape, and dense or of medium density. The average cluster weight is 205 g.
• Berry: large in size, round in shape. The color is white with a distinct brown tan. The flesh is fleshy, and the taste is muscat. Each berry contains 2–3 seeds.

Cultivation Features

The Kirgizskii Rannii grape variety demonstrates high yields under various training systems. It is successfully cultivated both with a multi-arm vine training system with a low standard (with mandatory winter protection by hilling with soil) under the conditions of the Lower Dnieper sands, and with the use of a high-standard culture in the steppe part of the Crimea region and on the Southern Coast of Crimea. Pruning of vines for fruiting is recommended to be medium, leaving 7–8 buds. The variety shows the ability to grow and fruit well on various types of soils.

Winter hardiness indicators are low; the Kirgizskii Rannii variety is close to Szabó gyöngye (Zhemchug Saba) in this characteristic. At the Tsyurupinsk state variety trial plot, the total loss of buds averaged 26% over seven years of observations, increasing to 89% in particularly severe winters. Resistance to major fungal diseases is low: the variety is less resistant to downy mildew (mildew) than Szabó gyöngye, and berry damage by gray mold in unfavorable years can reach 10%. Graft compatibility with rootstock varieties has not been studied at the current time.