Konigin der Weingarten

Main Characteristics

The variety was bred in 1925 in Hungary by the breeder Mátyás János through the crossing of Queen Elizabeth and Csaba Gyoengye* (Zhemchug Saba*). It is cultivated in Italy, France, Tunisia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Yugoslavia. In Ukraine, the Koenigin der Weingaerten grape variety is zoned in the Donetsk, Zaporozhye, Crimea, Odessa, and Kherson regions. It belongs to the group of early-ripening varieties. The period from the beginning of bud break to the harvest maturity of the berries takes 110 days under the conditions of the Lower Dnieper sands, and 125 days in Odessa conditions. The ripening of the harvest occurs in the second to third decade of August. According to the mechanical composition of the cluster, it belongs to typical table grape varieties and has good transportability. The tasting score of fresh grapes is 8 points.

The growth of shoots is quite vigorous, but on sandy soils, the bushes have medium vigor. Annual vines ripen satisfactorily. It is characterized by an abundance of rapidly growing laterals and high fruitfulness of the lateral harvest. The variety yield is medium: an average of 87.7 c/ha was obtained at the Tsyurupinsk state variety trial plot in the Kherson region, 97.1 c/ha at the Primorsky plot in the Zaporozhye region, and 105 c/ha in Odessa. The share of productive shoots on a bush is 36%, the average number of clusters per developed shoot is 0.3, and per productive shoot is 1.2. By the time of harvest maturity, the sugar content of the juice reaches 15–16 g/100 ml with a titratable acidity of 7–8 g/l.

Morphological Description of the Koenigin der Weingaerten Grape Variety

• Young shoot (shoot tip): the shoot tip and young leaves are light green, shiny, with a slight bronze tint, completely devoid of pubescence. Saplings have prostrate shoots with a glabrous tip.
• Annual mature shoot: brown in color.
• Formed leaf: characterized by medium size, round shape, five-lobed. The surface is smooth, shiny, wavy. Lobing varies from weak to strong. The upper and lower lateral sinuses have the shape of an incoming angle. The petiolar sinus is open, lyre-shaped. The terminal teeth are triangular with weakly convex sides. The marginal teeth are low-triangular, with a wide base. The lower surface of the leaf is almost glabrous, with very weak bristly pubescence. The autumn color of the leaves is yellow.
• Flower: hermaphroditic.
• Cluster: quite large (18–20 cm long, 12–13 cm wide), cylindrical-conical and conical, of medium density. The average cluster weight is 272 g. The cluster stem is tough and long (up to 7 cm).
• Berry: very large (23 mm long, 20 mm wide), varies in shape from round to oval. The color of ripe berries is golden-amber, covered with a medium bloom (pruina). The flesh is firm and fleshy. The taste is distinctive, with a weak muscat aroma. The skin is easily torn. The berry contains 1–2 seeds.

Cultivation Features

The Koenigin der Weingaerten grape variety grows and develops poorly under the conditions of the Lower Dnieper sands, where a fan, four-arm training system is required. The bush load in these conditions is 50–60 buds or 30–35 developed shoots (of which 9–10 are productive). Pruning of productive vines should be short, leaving 4–6 buds on the canes. The variety requires mandatory removal of laterals and cluster thinning before flowering (leaving one inflorescence per shoot). The best crop quality is achieved when vineyards are located on warm, well-lit slopes with light loamy soils. Recommended rootstocks: Berlandieri × Riparia SO4, Kober 5BB, Riparia × Rupestris 101-14.

The variety is highly susceptible to winter frosts; bud damage during the winter period often exceeds 50%. Multi-year parts of the bushes overwinter poorly even when covered with soil. Due to the very early onset of vegetation, young shoots are frequently damaged by spring frosts. Resistance to fungal diseases is low: the variety is extremely susceptible to downy mildew (mildew, becoming infected earlier than other varieties), susceptible to powdery mildew (oidium), and crown gall (bacterial cancer). Under conditions of high humidity, the berries crack easily and rot. In unfavorable weather conditions during flowering, flower drop and berry shotting (millerandage) on the level of 7–12% are observed in the clusters.

* VINEYARD Note: according to DNA analysis results, the true parentage is Dattier de Beyrouth × Csaba Gyoengye.