Grapevine Cardinal - Red Dessert Grape, Early Ripening

The bunches are medium to large, most often loose, branched. The berries of the Cardinal grape variety are large, oval in shape, with faintly marked longitudinal ribs. The skin is dark violet, medium thick, tender. The flesh is crunchy, pleasant-tasting, with a faint muscat aroma (when well ripened). The berries are uneven in size. In low-quality clones and virus-infected vines, uneven colouring of the berry skin, a tendency to heavy poor fruit set and shot berries (millerandage) are often observed.   Cardinal vines are distinguished by vigorous vegetative growth. The grapes are relatively resistant to rot. It cracks easily. For this reason watering (if necessary) should be done in good time. The variety suffers from powdery mildew and downy mildew. It is sensitive to low temperatures. This quality should be taken into account when choosing a planting site.   It is distinguished by high fertility, productivity and good transportability. The most suitable training system for it is the single-trunk bilateral cordon with a trunk height of up to 1.3 m. It requires richer, moisture-retentive soils.   Cardinal is a valuable early table grape variety. Ripens in the first half of August.