During the last years the plans with the international breeders (including Sun World, SNFL, IFG, Arra) are bearing fruit and now the NCX Drahorad network of seedless growers offers approximately 40 different varieties. They have undergone all the selections and are meeting a mix of criteria from fertility, attractive bunch shape, taste, little work in the vineyard, productivity, shelf life, calendar.
You think about Italian grapes and a few traditional varieties come to your mind (in particular Muscat Italia and Red Globe) and maybe a couple of established seedless (Sugraone and Crimson). That’s it. Right? Nearly.
In actual facts quite often it is mainly Victoria and Red Globe which are being planted. It seems the Italian growers are thinking more about the yield per hectar or the early niche in the Northern Hemisphere calendar of seeded grapes, while the market is going cleary more towards seedless grapes.
The main problems the Italian growers are facing in the move from seeded to seedless are the yields which can be erratic and the commercial agreements with the breeders.
But not everyone in Italy is pulling the brakes on seedless: there are many growers who invest in innovation and who are growing and experimenting new seedless varieties.
Once the contact with the breeders is set up, it takes many years before a commercial volume is available.
The availability of Italian seedless covers a six month calendar: green is available from the beginning of July to the mid of December, black from the mid of July to beginning of November, red from the beginning of July to the end of December.
A wide and interesting offer of well-known and international varieties, which covers with continuity the period from July to December.
The Italian breeding programmes are still lagging behind, but there are rumours about a new breeding programme which probably will start soon in some experimental fields in Southern Italy.
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Thomas Drahorad · 2 July 2015