Krasnostop Zolotovskii

Main characteristics of Krasnostop Zolotovsky grape

Krasnostop Zolotovsky is an ancient Don wine grape variety that belongs to typical wine varieties of the medium-late ripening period. The growth vigor of the bushes is moderate, especially on dry soils. Ripening of the shoots is early and good. The variety is quite winter-hardy and restores its above-ground parts damaged by frost faster than other Don varieties. The yield of the variety is medium on average, but it fluctuates greatly depending on the growing conditions. On dry soils, the yield is low, while on soils well-provided with moisture, it increases to medium and even high. The Krasnostop Zolotovsky variety is included in the standard assortment of the Rostov region.

Morphological description of the Krasnostop Zolotovsky grape variety

Morphological features of the vegetative and generative organs of the variety based on the original ampelographic description:

• Leaf: Leaves are predominantly small, round in outline, slightly funnel-shaped or almost flat, medium-dissected, three- to five-lobed. The central lobe is usually strongly stretched in width. On the upper side, the leaves are slightly shiny, finely reticulate-wrinkled, and on the lower side, they have thick cobwebby pubescence mixed with short bristles. The upper sinuses are of medium depth, sometimes deep, closed with wide-oval or egg-shaped openings. The lower sinuses are either weakly marked in the form of incoming angles, or of medium depth, lyre-shaped, or closed. The petiolar sinus is open, roundly lyre-shaped, or closed with an oval or egg-shaped opening. The teeth at the ends of the lobes are small, wide-triangular. The marginal teeth are small, dome-shaped. The petiole and the bases of the main veins are colored wine-red. In late autumn, before falling, the leaves of Krasnostop Zolotovsky acquire a red color.
• Shoot: The shoots are smooth, with longitudinal grooves, slightly thickened at the nodes, hard when pruned, and of a reddish color. The nodes are not thickened and do not stand out in color. The internodes are short. The buds are prominent and covered with short hairs. The young shoot is covered with thick down, milky-white, with red dots, and the first leaves are of a dark wine-red color. The tendrils are split, frequent, red, and thin.
• Flower: The flowers are bisexual; the variety is characterized by easy setting of berries.
• Bunch: Bunches are small, rarely of medium size (8–15 cm in length), conical, loose or of medium density. On dry soils, the bunches are small, very loose, weighing 50–60 g. On moist soils, the bunches are significantly larger and heavier (100–150 g). The stalk of the bunch is strong, rather long. The rachis is green. The berry stems are long, dark green, and turn red when the shoot ripens.
• Berry: Berries are small, round, with deviations to slightly oval, dark blue, and covered with a bluish waxy bloom. Due to the density of the bunch, the shape of the berries is not always constant. The skin is of medium thickness and strong. The pulp is juicy.
• Seeds: The grape contains from 2 to 4 small, elongated seeds of a wine color with yellow dots.

Agrotechnical features of the Krasnostop Zolotovsky variety

The Krasnostop Zolotovsky variety is characterized by early spring budburst, because of which the vine is often damaged by return frosts. The grape grows well on limestone-clay soils. Short pruning is recommended. The Krasnostop Zolotovsky variety is cultivated on a low trunk (low bush) without the use of artificial supports or trellises. The variety has low resistance to downy mildew (mildew) — in unfavorable years, the disease completely destroys the leaves, while the vine does not have the property to restore the leaf apparatus with the help of lateral shoots. The variety is resistant to powdery mildew (oidium) due to the denseness of the berry skin, and the grapes are not subject to rotting even during prolonged autumn rains.

Winemaking and features of the finished product

The Krasnostop Zolotovsky grape stands out for its ability to accumulate sugar in the juice very energetically — up to 25–27%. At the same time, during the ripening of the berries, the acidity of the juice is held at a high level for a long time and decreases slowly, which is why the harvest is often postponed until the phase of overripening of the berries. Due to the denseness of the pulp, the variety yields little juice (180 kg of grapes are required to obtain 1 hectoliter of must). From the harvest of this variety, high-quality red wines of a dessert type are obtained with an original cherry tone in taste and aroma, as well as wine materials for Tsimlyanskoie sparkling wine. With an earlier harvest, good red wines of a table type are obtained from Krasnostop Zolotovsky, sometimes with increased acidity.