Vitis labrusca x vinifera Fragola Nera Précoce - Dessert Grape

The 'Fragola Nera Precoce' vine is very similar to the 'Fragola Nera', but its fruits reach maturity about two weeks earlier. It is a vigorous, productive, and naturally disease-resistant hybrid variety. This climbing plant produces beautiful clusters of small black grapes with thick skin, and the pulp has an aromatic and fragrant flavour reminiscent of wild strawberries. They can be eaten as they are or used to make juice, giving jams and jellies exotic flavours of lychee or papaya. The harvest takes place, depending on the region, year, and climate, from early September to mid-October. It can be grown in the garden, on a pergola, or a sturdy trellis against a wall.

The 'Fragola Nera Precoce' vine is a horticultural hybrid. One of its parents is Vitis labrusca, a species native to eastern North America that has passed on its natural resistance to phylloxera, a root parasite of European vines. It also inherited the thick skin that covers its grapes and their unique flavour (strong and earthy aromas, known as "foxy"). Its second parent is an unknown variety of Vitis vinifera, cultivated since ancient times in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. All vines belong to the Vitaceae family.

Vitis 'Fragola Nera Precoce' is a sarmentous and climbing shrub, with twisting stems equipped with tendrils that can exceed 5 metres in length over time. It forms a trunk, often knotty and twisted, covered with fibrous, brown bark that flakes off in strips as it ages. Its long green stems bear beautiful round, medium green leaves with serrated edges, turning yellow before falling in autumn. It blooms in late spring, from May to June depending on the region, in the form of dense and well-formed, pyramidal to cylindrical clusters, loaded with tiny green to yellowish nectar-rich flowers. After pollination by insects, the grapes are formed. 'Fragola Nera Precoce' produces medium to large, pyramidal and cylindrical clusters, weighing 250 to 400 grams. Its black grapes are small, oval, with thick skin. Their purple, firm, juicy pulp, with few seeds, has a typical wild strawberry flavour. This variety is very hardy and easy to grow in any well-drained garden soil. It is pruned in late winter, after frost, above 3 buds (buds) to promote the formation of new flowering shoots.

Planted in a sunny spot, the 'Fragola Nera Precoce' vine will be very decorative along a wall, on a pergola, in the ground, or in a large container on a terrace. This grape variety is appreciated for its ornamental value in gardens, thanks to its decorative foliage throughout the season. When vinified, its grapes reveal an atypical flavour, somewhat "earthy" (the Anglophones say "foxy"). They can be enjoyed at the table or in numerous recipes.