Charlie grapes: description of the variety, characteristics

The article presents Charlie grapes: description of the variety, characteristics, reviews.

Despite the fact that grapes in the middle lane, especially in the northern regions of Russia, are not very popular, our breeders regularly offer new varieties for planting where they have always been a wonder. As a rule, these are unpretentious early ripening varieties that attract the attention of our gardeners.
A typical example of a hybrid form of Anthracite, familiar to many, is the Charlie variety. Let's talk about it in more detail.

Charlie grapes: about the history of the creation of the variety

Charlie grapes: about the history of the creation of the variety

Charlie was bred from two old, fairly popular grape varieties (Victoria and Nadezhda Azos). The first was bred in the 50s of the last century, the variety turned out with a predominance of high agrotechnical indicators. The second was brought out in the 80s, it is famous for its excellent taste and strength to cold and disease.

These 2 wonderful varieties were crossed by the breeder E.G. Pavlovsky. The result is a new hybrid "Charlie", to this day impressive, including experienced winegrowers, with excellent properties.

Charlie has earned respect, going from criticism and controversy to love and consumer recognition. Popularity among winegrowers and ordinary amateur consumers, 10 years of criticism and doubts and ... the result! Finally, in 2015, the variety was included in the State Register of the Russian Federation with the name "Anthracite". The SSAU named after Trubilin (Kuban) became the patent holder.

The name "Charlie" is more common than its proprietary name. In addition, patented varieties are more expensive as there is a cost to the patent holder.

Charlie grapes: variety description

Charlie grapes: photo

Charlie grapes are characterized by medium vigor against the background of early ripening of the shoots. Winegrowers state the fact that even in Central Russia this variety is capable of ripening at the beginning of the last summer month. In this regard, it is recommended to grow it in more northern latitudes, where the summer is short. In addition, mature vines are much better at withstanding the winter cold.

The variety bears fruit just fine (up to 95%): the branches can withstand heavy clusters, and up to 7 ovaries form on one branch. True, in order for ripening to be complete, it is recommended to remove excess inflorescences so that one shoot has no more than two brushes. If you are greedy and leave more, then ripening will be greatly extended in terms of time, and you may simply not wait for ripe berries - they will not be able to ripen.

Also, pay attention to the size of the brushes: the larger the bunches, the less chances they will ripen, especially in an unfavorable summer. Conclusion: if the summer is sunny and warm, then leave more brushes on the branches (up to three pieces).

• First bonus: Charlie is excellent at shoots. Even a young bush (up to 5 years old) is capable of producing up to 40 shoots. The color of the leaves and shoots is deep green. The leaves are slightly dissected and slightly pubescent.
• The second bonus: the variety does not need pollination, since Charlie has flowers of both sexes. It turns out that if you plant one bush on the site, you will definitely have a crop!
• Third bonus: Charlie bushes are easy to propagate by cuttings, as he has an excellent ability to root quickly.
  The growing season of 110 days (on average) is enough for the berry to gain sugar, taste and color. The average amount of sugar will be collected during this period. If you give the plant more time, you will get grapes with a higher sugar content (up to 22%).
• The fourth bonus: the berries hang beautifully in bunches and do not crumble, and their size is basically the same. That is, if your grapes are for sale, then it does not need to be freed from small grapes, giving it a presentation.
• The fifth bonus: the main advantage of the Charlie variety is a good stable harvest. A young bush can even give up to 4 kg of berries in the second year. Adult bushes give up to 20 kg each. And this is not a record!
• The sixth bonus: this is the frost resistance of the culture, which reaches -25 ° C. Of course, in spite of everything, shelter for the winter is required, especially if these are northern regions, and the air temperature may be even lower.
• Seventh bonus: the variety quickly recovers after winter cold, spring frosts and even heavy rains with hail. Also, the culture copes well with various fungal diseases. Even if your plant is still exposed to a similar disease, often preventive measures are sufficient for it without the use of potent chemicals. It is important that this variety is not afraid of rot, even in the event of a rainy summer, unlike many other varieties that may not yield a crop at all under such conditions.

This variety is very fond of wasps and various small birds. Therefore, it is better to protect ripening bunches from them with a special mesh.

Charlie grape variety: a little about clusters and berries

Charlie grape: photo

Brushes with berries of this variety are quite attractive, one might say, presentation - that's what you need!
The shape of the brush is in the form of a cone, but this is if it has grown perfectly. The bunch is not dense; we can talk about the average looseness of the location of the berries.

Now about the weight. One brush can reach up to 900 g in the average case. There were also record achievements of this variety - more than 2 kg.
Bunches of this variety can be up to 40 cm in length.

The skin of the berries is dark blue, and the dense and watery pulp itself gives a colorless juice. Despite the sufficient density of the skin, you do not feel it when chewing.
The shape of the berries is ovoid, up to 9 grams in size, inside there are usually 2-3 seeds.

This variety perfectly tolerates even long transportation, for which it is appreciated by numerous commercial enterprises.

For the taste of fresh Charlie grapes received from professional tasters 8.4 points out of 10 possible. It has notes of nightshade. Someone does not like this interesting taste, but someone really likes it. Some professional growers claim that this flavor is of slightly unripe grapes. If it hangs for another couple of weeks and picks up more sugar, then the unusual taste will disappear. Others are convinced that nightshade is present in the taste of the variety on bushes no more than 4 years old. In the berries of older bushes, this flavor is not.

There is also a widespread belief that the flavor of this variety is directly influenced by the composition of the soil.
Due to its excellent taste and sugar content, Charlie table grapes are used for making wine, juice and all kinds of sweet preserves.

Charlie grape variety: gardeners reviews

We have collected different reviews, sometimes controversial and dissimilar to each other. It is clear from them that the Charlie variety, besides leaving no one indifferent, will also give a rich harvest despite various weather surprises.
Savely, 38 years old, Samara region: “I have had Charlie grapes for several years now. And for all these years the bushes have not hurt anything. The variety gives a lot of brushes, so I would advise you to form clusters, that is, their number. Sugar content takes a long time, until about tenths of September. By this time, the full length of the brushes is already ripening well. I am very pleased with the appearance: very beautiful brushes, besides, they sit on the bushes for a long time and do not fall off. "
Gennady, 46 years old, Kaluga region: “For the past three seasons, several Charlie bushes have given me record yields compared to other varieties. But this year, spring frosts froze them a little, but the harvest was surprisingly good.Compared to other strains on my site, Charlie held up. I want to note the sugar content. I don't have much of it. But the absence of cracks on the berries and the fact that there are no peas is captivating. The berries are all even, about the same size. "

Marina, 35 years old, Stavropol Territory: “Charlie lived with us for 3 years, but still we parted with him because of the pronounced nightshade taste of Charlie grapes. The harvest was decent, but what can I do, my family did not like it, and it was sold somehow poorly. They let everything go to wine. And the bushes had to be uprooted. They made room for another sort. "

Sergey Shishlyannikov, 38 years old, Voronezh: “The variety is steep, as the yield is high even with weather quirks. I've heard there are opinions about its nightshade flavor. My family loves this unusual delicate flavor. It was about four years, then the nightshade disappeared, with full ripening the grapes became even more magnificent. We are delighted with it! His brushes are strong, they can hang on branches for a long time. It appears to be transported well. I decided to plant a few more bushes.

In conclusion, about "Charlie" it is worth saying that this "dark horse" does not immediately reveal all its capabilities and advantages and requires a little patience. But if you practice this quality in yourself, and are not in a hurry with the collection, then this variety will reward you with an excellent harvest of delicious berries.

Charlie grape: video