Rare autochthonous Don grape varieties Vitis vinifera L. orientalis Negr

Abstract. Preservation of the gene pool of grapes in ampelographic collections is of great importance and is currently relevant. Most of the autochthonous and rare varieties have been preserved only due to their presence in collections. The article presents the results of a long-term study of rare Don autochthonous grape varieties (eastern eco-geographical group) with colored berries. The object of study is 5 grape varieties: Bruskovatenkiy, Krestovskiy, Svetlolistnyi, Silnyak, Slitnoy and the control variety Varyushkin. The work was carried out at the Don Ampelo-graphic Collection named after Ya.I. Potapenko (Novocherkassk, Rostov Region). The variety study was carried out according to generally accepted methods in viticulture and GOSTs. As a result of many years of research, it was found that the preservation of buds in the covering shaft ranged from 67 (Krestovskiy, Slitnoy) to 80 % (Silnyak), 73% for the control variety Varyushkin. The percentage of fruiting shoots varied from 21 (Krestovsky) to 88 (Silnyak), 60 % for the control variety. The average bunch weight at the level of 245 g was for the control variety Varyushkin and the variety Svetlolistnyi, the varieties Bruskovatenkiy and Krestovskiy exceeded the control in this indicator (273 and 307 g, respectively). The highest estimated yield capacity was for the varieties Silnyak and Varyushkin (144 and 132 c/ha, respectively). The lowest yield was for the variety Krestovskiy 30 c/ha. When assessing the quality of wine products, red dry wines from the studied varieties received the following tasting scores: Varyushkin – 8.61 points, Krestovskiy – 8.6 points, Silnyak and Slitnoy – 8.57 and 8.53 points respectively, not significantly lower at 8.45 points – Bruskovatenkiy and Svetlolistnyi. Our research confirmed the low yield of the Krestovskiy variety (over 10 years of observations, we were able to pass it for wine only once). Based on the results of the variety study, the Silnyak and Slitnoy varieties were distinguished in the collection by a set of economically valuable characteristics (including the quality of wine products). Keywords: grapes, variety study, rare Don autochthonous varieties, ampelographic collection, yield capacity, crop conditions