General description: Somerset is an American interspecific hybrid. It’s a seedless variety grown for table grapes, processing and as a garden ornament. This grapevine grows vigorously and is resistant to frost and fungal diseases.

Fruit: This variety has grape clusters of medium size. The fruit are seedless, small and oval. The skin is thin and easily separates form the juicy, aromatic flesh. The skin is dark pink with a strong bloom.

Ripening: Somerset grapes ripen in mid-September (if growing against a wall) or in early October if planted in open spaces. Uneaten fruit can be kept on the bush to increase the sugar extract for use in wine making.

Leaves: This grapevine has large, three or five-lobed, green leaves that are tomentose on the underside. The leaves often display small, discoloured spots, which is normal and characteristic of this variety.

Cultivation requirements: This grapevine requires a sunny and warm location. It prefers light, permeable soil, and doesn’t like heavy, wet substrates. It grows and bears fruit best in slightly acidic soils. It can be cultivated throughout temperate climes, even in areas with a climate unfavourable for other grape varieties. Seedlings should be planted every 1-1.5 meters, 10-15 cm deeper than in the pot they came in. Very small seedlings should be planted in a shallow hole and only covered wholly with soil in autumn. This significantly increases the frost resistance of grapevines and increases the efficiency of watering freshly planted vines.

Care: To build a powerful root system, grapevines need a lot of water. Caring for a newly planted seedling is basically limited to systematic watering. It is especially important to pay attention to watering in early summer and as the grapes ripen. Each young vine requires up to three buckets of water per watering.

Pruning:In the first year after planting, it’s recommended to prune only one to three stems. In the following years, trimming depends on how the vine is to be shaped. Thinning out, in order to obtain high quality fruit, is advised. Generally, stems should be pruned to a moderate length and care should be taken whilst selecting which stems and shoots are to be cut, to leave well-fruiting ones on the plant. It is best to leave pruning until late autumn and winter (before the beginning of vegetation), although trimming in summer helps control expansion and should be done after new shoots are partially lignified. The best harvest comes from older vines that are cultivated to grow tall and pruned at the eighth to tenth bud node counting from the bottom.

Props: The Somerset grapevine is perfect for growing on all kinds of fences, pergolas and arbours, trellises and other garden support structures.

Overwintering: This grapevine withstands temperature drops of down to -32°C, however it is recommended to protect young vines for the winter (for e.g., by using agrotextiles). At the beginning of November, cover seedlings by piling a mound of soil with peat about 30 cm in height over the plants. This not only insulates them from the cold, but also shields them against flooding during the thaw.

Origin: USA.