This week the spotlight is on Chile, where the ARRA Mystic Dream™ harvest is due to start in less than a week. We will bring you along for a stroll around the farms where the growers are happy with the results of this juicy late black variety. Then, from the rows, we fly you to see ARRA Sweeties™ from Chile arriving in Philadelphia. Don’t miss the finale, where you meet a new very early black variety: ARD 41.
This season the ARRA Varieties in Chile have reached their full potential. With strong and vigorous vineyards, now in their 4th and 5th year of commercial production, the results appear to be positive.
This season the ARRA Varieties in Chile have reached their full potential. With strong and vigorous vineyards, now in their 4th and 5th year of commercial production, the results appear to be positive.
Karl Conrads, owner of Grapasa and ARRA Varieties Agent for South America reports: “This year, the ARRA Mystic Dream production expanded to more regions. New growers from the north Copiapo Valley to the south Rancagua and San Fernando areas joined the existing producers from the III, IV, V, VI and Metropolitana regions. The variety shows very good fertility and it is indeed grower-friendly offering a big advantage, especially when access to manual labour is limited”.
Agricola Santelices
Agricola Santelices is located in San Esteban, Valle de Aconcagua region V.
Antonio Morales, Farm General Manager, planted ARRA Mystic Dream™ in 2017 and he is content with the third crop of this late, very fertile black variety.
Naturally sweet with a good hanging ability on the vine, ARRA Mystic Dream is also known for its great eating experience. The large berries hold extreme juiciness and have an excellent balance of sweetness and taste with a Brix level of 18°. Due to its excellent hanging ability this variety provides producers with much flexibility in harvest timing.
Antonio reports “ARRA Mystic Dream is a very good variety with very good thinning and bunch size. The calibre is great and the vines support water stress very well”.
Agricola Los Carrizos
Agricola Los Carrizos, located in San Vicente, in the O’Higgins Region planted ARRA Mystic Dream in 2018 and indeed they mastered its production. Approximately 10 days away from harvest, the crop looks great and the production is estimated between 3,800-4,000 boxes per hectare of 8.2 kilos.
Fundo la Providencia
ARRA Mystic Dream™ is performing well in region VI, where in Fundo la Providencia describe it as being a huge advantage for all growers as it is extremely fertile, reaches a luscious colour naturally and has great resistance to cracks and decay. The bunches are large and the berries are very big, firm and delicious.
This is an outstanding choice for producers looking for a late attractive black variety.
The Port of Philadelphia is said to be the largest importer of grapes in the United States. Within South America, Chile accounts for 60.0% of all fruit exports and it is the leading exporter of fresh grapes. Chilean producers export approximately 260 thousand metric tons of table grapes to the United States annually. (Source: USDA).
A large number of Chilean growers export their ARRA grapes to the USA. This season the fruit arrived on schedule and was of very good quality. Karl Conrads, travelled to Philadelphia in February and as seen in the picture below, he took time examining several shipments of ARRA Sweeties™
Karl recalls: “The fruit arrived in optimal condition with firm, crunchy and clean berries. These inspections are important as they ensure that the grapes meet the set quality standards. “During the evaluation sugar content, acidity, and overall appearance are checked and I can say that we are happy with the quality achieved this season”.
A newly released variety by the ARRA breeding programme is catching the attention of many producers.
ARD 41 is a very early, crunchy black variety with elongated berries that ripens at the same time as ARRA Honey Pop. It is indeed a big advantage and unique for growers to have a very early variety with such a full black colour.
Watch ARD 41 at the Breeding Site in California presented by
Uzi Yaron, Grapa R&D Director
Moreover, ARD 41, as a short cycle variety accumulates sugar quickly and is proven to be grower friendly. This promising variety will be showcased in June during the Egypt Field Day. Stay tuned for more regarding this event.
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