Emperor Christmas Rose Red Globe
FoodFood InformationFruitGrapes
The Cardinal is a cherry-red-skinned variety that is as pretty
as a picture. It was produced by crossing a Ribier grape with a Tokay. The
Cardinal is the first dark-skinned variety (red or blue) to arrive in the
market. It makes its debut in May and is usually gone by mid-July. It has
only fair flavor and tough skin and is a fragile variety. It isn't nearly
as flavorful as the Tokay or Queen varieties.
The Flame Tokay is the parent of the Flame seedless, and until its
offspring made its debut, it was the best of the red-skinned varieties.
It is still a superb red grape whose only shortcoming is a few seeds. The
Tokay has a fairly large, pale-red berry with a tender skin, an excellent
sweet flavor, and a crunchy texture. The Tokays arrive in July and wind
up at the end of October. A few are imported from Chile during the winter
months. This is one of the few table grape varieties (the others are the
Thompson Seedless and the Muscatels) with a high enough sugar content to
be used in making wine.
The red Queen is a fine new variety that is still in limited supply.
It has the largest berry of any of the red-skinned varieties. It is colorful,
tender-skinned, and crunchy in texture, and has a fine flavor. The Queens
have a rather short season, available only in August and September. This
variety has not yet been produced in Chile.
The Red Malaga is a variety that is gradually disappearing. Its cousin,
the white (green) Malaga, has already been phased out. The Red Malaga has
firm, medium-sized berries. The bunches are small and scraggly and the flavor
is very mild.
The Emperor variety is second only to the Thompson Seedless in tonnage.
It is second to all other grape varieties in flavor and texture. Although
the Emperor is attractive in color and grows in large, graceful bunches,
it is our least flavorful grape. It has a very low sugar content and a very
tough, chewy skin. Its greatest asset, besides its tremendous yield per
acre and low price per pound, is its hardiness. It is the darling of the
self-service markets because it can withstand rough handling. They arrive
in market in August and wind up in March, and they are also imported from
Chile during the winter months.
The Christmas Rose is very crunchy, juicy, sweet and full of fruity
flavor. Late September to January.
The Red Globe is very Large, firm with big seeds and mild flavor.
It stores well. September to January.
Deamer 5/97