Vitis vinifera Victoria - Grape vine

The grapevine or Vitis vinifera Victoria is a white table grapevine resulting from the cross-breeding between the 'Cardinal' and the 'Dattier de Beyrouth'. This variety is useful for its vigour, productivity, and large, crunchy, juicy grapes with a sweet and mild flavour. It produces generous clusters that ripen as early as September.

The wine grapevine (Vitis vinifera) grew wild over 5000 years ago. Many hybrids have been created to vary colours, flavours, and uses. The 'Victoria' grapevine is a Romanian creation by Victoria Lepadatu and Gheorghe Condei from the Dragasani Horticultural Research Institute, dating back to 1964. It is cultivated in many countries (Romania, Italy, Austria, Greece, Bulgaria, etc.). 'Victoria' is listed in the official catalogue of commercially marketable table grapevine varieties in the European Union.

A vigorous climbing woody shrub, the Victoria grapevine easily reaches a height or spread of 4-5m if not pruned. Its final shape will depend on the pruning performed. It is a sun-loving, undemanding, hardy, and frugal plant that prefers soil that is both clayey and stony, with a tendency towards limestone, even if it is dry in summer. Its long stems cling to their support (trellis, espalier...) through large green, twining tendrils. Its foliage, with a serrated edge, is deep green in summer and turns yellow and brown in autumn. Flowering occurs in May, earlier or later depending on the year and region, with small nectar-rich greenish flowers gathered in pyramidal and cylindrical, 10-12cm long clusters. The clusters have a beautiful appearance, they are rather large, flexible, conical, highly branched, and more or less compact. Its grapes are oblong, irregular in size, medium to large, with thick, slightly powdery, green to yellowish-green skin, or even amber-yellow when fully ripe. Their flesh is crunchy and juicy, with a sweet and mild flavour, and a few pips. The clusters withstand transportation, cold storage, and handling well.

'Victoria' grapes are consumed at the table, as dessert, in tarts, or as fruit juice. You can also use this vine to decorate a pergola or carefully train it on sturdy wires against a sunny wall. In February-March, prune this vine to 2-3 buds. It is sensitive to wind but resistant to cold winters (-15°C) and summer heat. Its foliage is slightly susceptible to powdery mildew and grey rot.