Columbine Vineyards in Delano, CA, will have its first commercial production of two new proprietary grape varieties from its own varietal development program this year, according to Keith Andrew, sales manager.

The new varieties are called Vista and Milano, and they are both green seedless grapes with large, sweet berries, Mr. Andrew said. The vista is ovate in shape; “the Milano is more round.” Both were test marketed last year on a small scale.

Keith AndrewThey are both mid-season varieties that fill “a nice window” from around mid-August to mid-October, he said. “Those should dovetail right into the Autumn King.”

The Milano is named for Milan Caratan, the owner or Columbine Vineyards.

Vista and Milano join Black Globe, Majestic and Holiday seedless in the company’s line-up of proprietary grape varieties that are Columbine exclusives.

Black Globe is a very large, very sweet seeded grape with a strong following in export markets. It will start mid-to late August and continue through Thanksgiving, he said. Holiday and Majestic are red seedless varieties, the Holiday noted for its lateness and its “large, bright-red, shiny berries with a sweet, juicy flavor” and the Majestic for its exceptionally large berry size.

When The Produce News talked to Mr. Andrew July 7, the company was on its second day of harvesting grapes in the San Joaquin Valley.

“It looks like it is a good size crop,” he said. “Conditions have been good till now, and quality and size look very good.” The colored grapes “seem to be coloring up very well.”

Currently, the company was harvesting Flame seedless and Sugraone green seedless grapes. Those would be followed by Summer Royal black seedless, Thompson seedless and Majestic. “Then hopefully the Red Globes will get going early August for us,” he said. “We’ve got a nice crop of Red globes that should last us for about three months anyway, a nice long season.”

On the Thompsons, he said, “we have pulled some out, so we are shortening the window a little bit here,” making room for the company’s two new proprietary green seedless varieties. The Vista and Milano plantings are still young, so production will be limited this year, “but we have already transitioned away from Thompsons.”

Later on, “we get into Autumn Royals,” Mr. Andrew said. “We have a little bit bigger Autumn Royal crop this year, as more new acreage is coming into bearing.” Also, “more Scarlet Royals are coming into production.”

In the Holiday seedless variety, Columbine does not expect an increase in volume this year. “We have more that we have planted,” he said, but it will not be in production this year. “Next year, we are looking for more volume.”

There are “a lot of new varieties we are working on” for the future, Mr. Andrew said. There are “at least two more” that will definitely be added to the program in the near future, but they do not have names yet.