Golubok or Holubok () is a Ukrainian variety of black grape used to make

red wine Red wine is a type of wine made from dark-colored grape varieties - (red grapes.) The color of the wine can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, through to brick red for mature wines and brown for older red wines. The juice fro ...

s, most notably grown in Ukraine and southern Russia. It is also cultivated in other parts of Europe and the United States.

History and origins

Golubok is an interspecific hybrid of Severnyy X pollen from different varieties: 40 Let Oktyabrya, Odesskiy Ranniy and No 1-17-54 (

Alicante Bouschet Alicante Bouschet or Alicante Henri Bouschet is a wine grape variety that has been widely cultivated since 1866. It is a cross of Petit Bouschet (itself a cross of the very old variety Teinturier du Cher and Aramon) and Grenache.Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

). It is a relatively new

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

, created in

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

, Ukraine in 1958. It became a protected variety in 1981. The word "golubok" means "little pigeon" in Russian, and is used as a term of endearment.

Viticulture

Golubok ripens early with moderately sized bunches and berries. It requires protection from birds earlier than others, and appears susceptible to bunch rot in the Puget Sound AVA. It is moderately resistant to

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and

powdery mildew Powdery mildew is a fungus, fungal disease that affects a wide range of plants. Powdery mildew diseases are caused by many different species of Ascomycota, ascomycete fungi in the order Erysiphales. Powdery mildew is one of the easier plant disea ...

s, which is attributed to its descendance from the Severny cultivar. It is frost-resistant, and resistant to temperatures of -25

°C The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius temperature scale "Celsius temperature scale, also called centigrade temperature scale, scale based on 0 ° for the melting point of water and 100 ° for the boiling point ...

(-13

°F The Fahrenheit scale () is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the German-Polish physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accounts of how he original ...

). A study of recently introduced cultivars, selections, and clones (predominantly from cool climate areas) was conducted at

Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...

's Mount Vernon NWREC in 2000, which showed that Golubok performed well at 1900 growing degree days (GDD) and below.

Winemaking

The variety is considered to be a teinturier grape, having both pigmented skin and pigmented pulp. The grapes have a deep color that appears black and a rich flavor coming from its darkly pigmented pulp and skin. It exhibits moderate acidity and moderate to high tannins, with aromas of

blackcurrant The blackcurrant (''Ribes nigrum''), also known as black currant or cassis, is a deciduous shrub in the family Grossulariaceae grown for its edible berries. It is native to temperate parts of central and northern Europe and northern Asia, w ...

blackberry BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...

black plum Black plum is a common name for several plants and may refer to: *'' Diospyros australis'', native to eastern Australia *'' Planchonella australis'', native to eastern Australia *''Prunus domestica'', the common cultivated plum *''Prunus nigra ' ...

black cherry ''Prunus serotina'', commonly called black cherry,World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub in the r ...

, and spice. Golubok is characterized by a high concentration of phenolic compounds. Its

must Must is freshly crushed Juice, fruit juice (usually grape juice) that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit. The solid portion of the must is called pomace and typically makes up 7–23% of the total weight of the must. Making must ...

has a sugar content of 20-24%. It is considered to have a fairly reliable yield and is suited to

grape juice Grape juice is obtained from crushing and blending grapes into a juice, liquid. In the wine industry, grape juice that contains 7–23 percent of pulp, skins, stems and seeds is often referred to as ''must''. The sugars in grape juice allow it t ...

production and winemaking. It is used in the production of red wines. It is typically fermented in stainless steel casks, and is blended with other grapes such as

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

more often than it is used to produce monovarietal wines. Golubok grapes are also suited to the production of

dessert wines Dessert wines, sometimes called pudding wines in the United Kingdom, are sweet wines typically served with dessert. There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a mea ...

Wine regions

Golubok is originally from Ukraine and southern Russia, but is also grown in Moldova and the Czech Republic. It has been cultivated in the states of

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

in the United States.

References

External links

{{Wines Red wine grape varieties Ukrainian wine Hybrid grape varieties