Grapes | #216 Newsletter | Grapa Varieties Ltd.

California - The Grape State: Table Grapes

ARRA International Team in California
In May, agronomists Russaika Nascimento from Brazil, J.T. Nel from South Africa and Alysson Vieira from Australia all gathered together in California to support Adi and Shachar in performing treatment trials of the sizing sprays on the new varieties of table grapes. The team worked together in full cooperation, dividing between themselves all the roles, tasks and areas. The main goal was to learn which is the optimal protocol for each variety. The team will return to California later in the season to evaluate the different application results on the table grapes.

News from the Grapevine

The early ARRA™ varieties enjoyed and benefited from the cool California spring. This year’s moderate and stable spring made up forthe late start and has helped the early varieties to catch up.

ARRA 29 (young): Last year Giumarra planted 480 acres of ARRA 29, the majority of the field was planted during spring as cartonnage plants, with a late nursery delivery as late as May 2017. The dedicated care lead to an impressive result

ARRA 29 (mature): This is the seventh year for the ARRA 29 vines, the yield and quality improve annually and we expect a high quality harvest starting in the last week of June.

ARRA 30: In spite of the late bud break, the pleasant weather combined with lowered applications levels of gibberellin (compared to last year), has resulted in the fruit being very advanced and we foresee ripening immediately at the end of the Early Sweet harvest.

ARRA Varieties in Italy

This week we take a look at how the season is progressing for some of the ARRA growers in Italy.

ARRA 19: Grown at Azienda Agricola Castronuovo Elisabetta (Altavilla) in the Taranto Province in Southern Italy, this variety showed natural improvement in it’s fertility and has become a very flexible variety. The ARRA 19 can be harvested until November while maintaining it’s high quality.

ARRA 29: The vineyards at Azienda Vitivinicola Casa Di Grazia in Gela, Sicily are at 12 – 14 brix and are changing color, a sure sign that harvest is not too far off

ARRA 30: This variety, grown at Azienda Agricola Castronuovo Elisabetta (Altavilla), is showing both great quantity and quality and the Italian producers are going crazy for it.