Continuing our look at the harvests in the southern hemisphere, this week we visit the ARRA 29 harvest taking place at Precision Vineyards, situated in Merbein, Australia.
ARRA 29 – From Vine to Table
(ARRA Passion Fire™)
January 2019 marks not only the start of a New Year but also an exciting time for Fruit Master Australia.
Nick Mammone of Precision Vineyards started to harvest his first ARRA 29. This fruit will be used to showcase the variety to the Australian retailers and also used for demonstration, storage and comparison trials by Fruit Master, Australia.
Nick has only fifty 18 month-old vines that he and Fruit Master agronomist, Alysson Barbosa Vieira, have nurtured and cared for to allow for a hand full of boxes for this year’s viewing. The vines and fruit have endured a typical Australian spring and summer with 40+°C days and up to 55mm of rain and as the photographs show, the fruit is outstanding without any plastic or shade cover. Nick was exceptionally happy with the variety given the age of the vines and the light canopy he had to work with. Nick stated that when compared to Flame Seedless the ARRA 29 was a clear winner. ‘We didn’t apply Ethephon and the fruit coloured very well, the berry size was 22mm plus and I experienced no shatter’ stated Nick.
The ARRA 29 harvest, picked from the vine approximately the same time as Flame Seedless, had good fertility and no cracking after 55 mm of rain and Precision Vineyards are looking forward to their first commercial crop of ARRA 29 next season.
Ready to Eat
Our grateful thanks to Alysson, the entire Fruit Master team and to Nick Mammone for their great work and expertise in supporting the ARRA programme in Australia.
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Discover the ultimate red variety with ARD 35 – FIRE CRUNCH™. This early-mid variety boasts a unique fire-red colour and crunchy, large berries with a low acid level and well-balanced taste that provide a supreme eating quality. It’s a fertile and easy-to-grow variety with full uniform colour that stays red on the vine, and doesn’t get dark over time, making harvest timing very flexible. This variety also withstands rain and offers unparalleled hanging ability, cold storage capability and shelf-life capacity.
This early red seedless variety offers an exceptional eating quality. It has large, crunchy berries, a medium sized bunch and boasts an excellent natural, full, deep red colour. Although it ripens at the same time as Flame, ARRA Passion Fire surpasses its early counterpart in all other parameters. Good productivity, extraordinary hanging ability, shipping durability and shelf life make it a choice early red.
This very early red variety with its large, sweet berries, ripens naturally 10 days before Flame. The striking full red colour, together with extreme crunch and harmonious flavour make this red a must-have variety. Fire Kiss has proven to be very fertile and grower friendly, as well as bearing great post-harvest and shipping qualities.