Shasla Ramminga

Key Characteristics

The Shasla Ramminga grape variety was bred by the breeder A. A. Ramming at the Maritime Fruit and Berry Experimental Station. By its species origin, this grape variety is a complex interspecific hybrid obtained with the participation of Vitis amurensis, European varieties, and the North American species Vitis labrusca. The Shasla Ramminga variety is distributed across the Maritime Territory (Primorsky Krai), where it can be found in commercial vineyards and home gardens, and it is also cultivated in Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk.

This grape variety belongs to the mid-early ripening group. Full maturity of the crop under the conditions of the breeding region occurs in the second decade of September. The duration of the growing season ranges from 114 to 125 days, requiring a sum of active temperatures from 1900 to 2250 °C. The growth vigor of self-rooted vines is moderate, while in grafted culture, the variety demonstrates strong growth vigor. Yield indicators depend significantly on growing conditions and overwintering performance. On its own roots, the Shasla Ramminga variety forms a low yield, ranging from 0.7 to 2 kg per vine. In grafted culture, the average commercial yield is 58–80 centners per hectare (c/ha), and in home gardens, the productivity reaches 5–8 kg per vine (equivalent to 85–135 c/ha). The plants are characterized by good cane maturity; however, the Shasla Ramminga grape variety reacts negatively to crop overloads.

Morphological Description

• Young shoot: Features dense white pubescence.
• Mature cane: Annual shoots have a dark brown coloration.
• Leaf: The leaf blade is medium-sized and weakly three-lobed. The upper side is dark green, glossy, with a slightly blistered surface. The lower side of the leaf is covered with dense felt-like pubescence of a yellowish-green hue. The veins remain hairless (glabrous). The lateral sinuses are weakly expressed or marked as very shallow indentations. The petiolar sinus is open, shallow, and lanceolate with a sharp base (bottom).
• Petiole: The leaf petiole and the shoot nodes display anthocyanin coloration and pubescence.
• Cluster: Small in size, branched in structure, and loose in density. The cluster stem (peduncle) has a herbaceous texture and is colored dark pink.
• Berry: Berries are characterized by unevenness in size, ranging from small (12×14 mm) to medium (17×17 mm). The berry shape is round, and the color is light green with a distinct yellow tinge. The surface is covered with a thin layer of waxy bloom (pruin).
• Skin and flesh: The skin is thin, translucent, possesses high strength, and separates easily from the flesh. The flesh is of a juicy consistency and separates well from the seeds.
• Flavor qualities: The taste is harmonious, with a juicy flavor characteristic of American grape species and a delicately expressed muscat aroma.

Vineyard Management and Agrotechnics

The Shasla Ramminga variety is recommended for cultivation exclusively as a grafted culture in all viticultural zones of the Russian Far East and in the Amur Region. The necessity of grafting is due to the poor winter hardiness of the root system and the low productivity of self-rooted vineyards. The variety Alpha, seedlings of Vitis amurensis, and its hybrids (Buytur, Dalnevostochny Tikhonova, Korinka Michurina, etc.) are recommended for use as frost-resistant rootstocks.

The Shasla Ramminga variety requires strict crop load regulation, as the vines do not tolerate an excess yield well. Optimal fruiting indicators are achieved with a moderate pruning length of the fruit canes, which is recommended to be carried out to 8–10 buds. An agrotechnical feature that increases the value of this grape variety is its high natural resistance to major fungal diseases, which minimizes the need for intensive chemical treatments during the growing season.

* VINEYARD Note: The climatic conditions of the Russian Far East practically exclude the possibility of growing grapes without protecting the vines for the winter; therefore, despite the increased winter hardiness of the Shasla Ramminga variety, the original source definitively recommends cultivating the vines as a covered culture. However, in regions with a milder climate, where winter minimum temperatures do not drop below -25...-26 °C, it is entirely possible to grow this variety without winter cover. The winter hardiness of the variety has not been studied directly; however, in the amateur community, the frost resistance of the primary buds is estimated at -25...-26 °C, while the frost resistance of the mature canes and perennial wood is estimated up to -29...-30 °C.