Rondo (grape)

Rondo
Grape (Vitis)
Rondo grapes
Color of berry skin	Noir
Species	Officially Vitis vinifera but also has other species in its pedigree
Also called	Geisenheim 6494-5 (Gm 6494-5)
Origin	Germany
Original pedigree	Zarya Severa × St. Laurent
Notable regions	Denmark, England, Ireland, Netherlands
Breeder	Helmut Becker
Breeding institute	Forschungsanstalt Geisenheim, Fachgebiet Rebenzüchtung und Rebenveredlung
Year of crossing	1964

Rondo is a dark-skinned grape variety, used for making red wine. It is a hybrid grape or inter-specific crossing. It was created in 1964 by Professor V. Kraus in then-Czechoslovakia by crossing the varieties Zarya Severa (a hybrid which has Vitis amurensis in its pedigree) and St. Laurent. He offered it to Dr. Helmut Becker (1927-1990) of the Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute who conducted further work on it, which explains why the grape is known under a Geisenheim designation. The variety has been protected since 1997, when it was first planted commercially by Thomas Walk Vineyard in Ireland^[1] under the name Amurensis Walk; it was named Rondo in 1999.^[2]

This very early maturing variety possesses high resistance against winter frost and downy mildew from its Asiatic Vitis amurensis parent. However annual treatments against powdery mildew may still be necessary in the vineyards. Rondo produces a ruby-red wine which is also used for blending. Rondo is cultivated in many locations in northern Europe where dark-skinned Vitis vinifera varieties are difficult to ripen properly, as it tends to yield good colour and aroma even in those locations.^[3] Rondo is cultivated in Rheinhessen and in many locations in northern Europe including Denmark, England, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden.

In 2011 the British winery Denbies picked up a gold prize in the International Wine Challenge for their 2010 vintage Chalk Ridge Rose, a wine made entirely from Rondo grapes. ^[4]

Synonym

Geisenheim 6494-5 (Gm 6494-5).^[5]

References

Hybrid grape varieties Grape ( Vitis ) species V. acerifolia V. adenoclada V. aestivalis V. amurensis V. × andersonii V. arizonica V. balansana V. barbata V. bashanica V. bellula V. berlandieri V. betulifolia V. biformis V. blancoi V. bloodworthiana V. bourgaeana V. × bourquina V. bryoniifolia V. californica V. × champinii V. chunganensis V. chungii V. cinerea V. coignetiae V. davidii V. × doaniana V. erythrophylla V. fengqinensis V. ficifolia V. flexuosa V. girdiana V. hancockii V. heyneana V. hui V. jacquemontii V. jaegeriana V. jinggangensis V. Kelungensis V. labrusca V. lanceolatifoliosa V. lincecumii V. longquanensis V. luochengensis V. menghaiensis V. mengziensis V. monticola V. mustangensis V. nesbittiana V. × novae-angliae V. palmata V. peninsularis V. piasezkii V. pilosonerva V. popenoei V. pseudoreticulata V. retordii V. riparia V. romanetii V. rotundifolia V. rupestris V. ruyuanensis V. shenxiensis V. shuttleworthii V. silvestrii V. sinocinerea V. × slavinii V. tiliifolia V. treleasei V. tsoii V. vinifera V. vulpina V. wenchouensis V. wilsonae V. wuhanensis V. xunyangensis V. Yeshanensis V. yunnanensis V. zhejiang-adstricta Notable hybrids Agawam Alexander Aurore Baco blanc Baco noir Beta Black Spanish Blanc du Bois Breidecker Cabernet blanc Cabernet Cortis Cascade Cassady Catawba Cayuga White Chambourcin Chancellor Chardonel Chelois Clinton Corot noir Couderc noir De Chaunac Edelweiss Flora Flot rouge Frontenac Goethe Herbert Himrod seedless Ives noir Jaeger 70 Kay Gray Kyoho L'Acadie blanc La Crosse Lakemont seedless Landal noir Landot noir Léon Millot Malverina Marechal Foch Marechal Joffre Marquette Massasoit Melody Merzling Muscat bleu Niagara Noiret Norton Olmo grapes Onaka Orion Phoenix Plantet Ravat blanc Regent Requa Rogers' Hybrids Rondo Royalty Seibel grapes Severny Seyval blanc Seyval noir Solaris St. Pepin Thomcord Traminette Triomphe d'Alsace Valvin muscat Vidal blanc Vignoles Villard grapes Zarya severa