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Vitis vinifera Cardinal - Grape vine

Vitis vinifera Cardinal
Common Grape Vine, European Grape, Wine Grape

4,6/5
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Good recovery, despite this year's frost.

Celine, 06/05/2021

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This plant carries a 6 months recovery warranty

More information

Value-for-money
Very vigorous variety. Large clusters, quite long, loose and flexible. Large and spherical berries. Moderately thick skin, pinkish red to dark red, sometimes even violet. Firm and fleshy pulp, slightly fibrous. Harvest in mid-September. The 'Cardinal' vine is quite susceptible to diseases.
Flavour
Sugary
Height at maturity
5 m
Spread at maturity
2 m
Exposure
Sun
Self-fertilising
Best planting time October to November
Recommended planting time January to April, September to December
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Flowering time May
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Harvest time September
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Description

The 'Cardinal' vine is a very vigorous variety. It produces large clusters, often loose and flexible. The berries are large, measuring 2 to 2.5 cm (1in) in diameter, and spherical. Their skin is moderately thick, ranging from pinkish-red to dark red, sometimes even violet. The pulp is firm, fleshy, and slightly fibrous. Harvest takes place in mid-September. The 'Cardinal' vine is quite susceptible to diseases.

The wine grape vine (Vitis vinifera) grew wild over 5000 years ago. Its introduction to France for cultivation was done by the Romans. Numerous hybrids have been created to vary colours, flavours, and uses. The 'Cardinal' vine is a variety selected by Elmer Snyder and Frank Harmon in 1939 in California (USA). It is the result of a cross-breeding: 'Vine Reinette' x 'Alphonse Lavallée'. It was introduced to France in 1946.

A vigorous climbing shrub, the 'Cardinal' vine can reach up to 5 m (16ft) in height. It is easy to train. Its final shape will depend on the pruning practised. Due to its horizontal habit, it is preferable to train it on wire and to trellis it well. Short pruning is recommended. It thrives in sunny locations and good soils that do not dry out too much during the summer. Its foliage is deeply cut, with a deep green colour in summer, and turns into the most beautiful gold in autumn. Its flowering in clusters occurs in May, offering tiny white-pink flowers. Its table grapes, in long clusters, ripen in mid-September, depending on the region. The berries are large, measuring 2 to 2.5 cm (1in) in diameter, and spherical. Their skin is moderately thick, ranging from pinkish-red to dark red, sometimes even violet. The pulp is firm, fleshy, and slightly fibrous.

Grapes are consumed as table fruit, fresh, but also in jam, jelly, fruit juice, pastries, and of course, after vinification, as wine.

 

Vitis vinifera Cardinal - Grape vine in pictures

Vitis vinifera Cardinal - Grape vine (Foliage) Foliage
Vitis vinifera Cardinal - Grape vine (Harvest) Harvest

Plant habit

Height at maturity 5 m
Spread at maturity 2 m
Growth rate normal

Fruit

Fruit colour red
Fruit diameter 3 cm
Flavour Sugary
Use Table, Jam, Patisserie
Harvest time September

Flowering

Flower colour yellow
Flowering time May
Inflorescence Cluster

Foliage

Foliage persistence Deciduous
Foliage colour green

Botanical data

Genus

Vitis

Species

vinifera

Cultivar

Cardinal

Family

Vitaceae

Other common names

Common Grape Vine, European Grape, Wine Grape

Origin

Cultivar or hybrid

Product reference783681

Planting and care

Since the ravages of phylloxera in the late 19th century, grape vines are obligatorily grafted onto different rootstocks, resistant to this disease and adapted to different types of soil. These rootstocks come from American varieties. Plant the 'Cardinal' vine in the autumn, in a deep, well-drained soil—even stony, arid, poor and chalky substrates—in a well-exposed site, sheltered from strong winds. Incorporate 3 or 4 handfuls of fertiliser for fruit trees and 2 kg of composted manure for each plant into the soil. The roots should not come into contact with the manure. After planting, prune above 2 large buds to encourage the growth of two branches. Keep the most vigorous one, and tie it to a stake. The training pruning will follow.

The vine does not require regular fertiliser application for good yield. On the contrary; enrich the soil with potash slag, crushed horn or iron chelate, only every 2-3 years.

Planting period

Best planting time October to November
Recommended planting time January to April, September to December

Intended location

Suitable for Meadow, Rockery
Type of use Container, Climbing, Orchard, Conservatory
Hardiness Hardy down to -15°C (USDA zone 7b) Show map
Ease of cultivation Amateur
Planting density 1 per m2
Exposure Sun
Soil pH Neutral, Calcareous
Soil type Chalky (poor, alkaline and well-drained), Clayey-chalky (heavy and alkaline), Silty-loamy (rich and light), Stony (poor and well-drained), free-draining, porous

Care

Pruning instructions Training pruning: the vertical cordon is the simplest to use when covering a facade or a high wall. Keep a vertical leader on which secondary branches will be allowed to grow every 20 cm (8in). Extend the cordon by a height of 50 to 60 cm (20 to 24in) each year. To obtain a bilateral cordon (with two arms), select two opposite buds that will be individually trained into diverging cordons. Fruiting pruning: the vine blooms on the shoots of the current year, carried by the branches of the previous year. For abundant fruiting, the stems need to be renewed each year. Pruning green material is recommended in May-June, in the form of bud removal.
Pruning Pruning recommended once a year
Pruning time February to March, May to June
Soil moisture Dry
Disease resistance Very good
Overwinter Can be left in the ground
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