Variety detail

Neronet

About

0.2% of the total vineyard plantings.
Entered in the State Register of Grape Varieties in 1991.

This is another so-called teinturier, whose colouring agents are found not only in the skins but also in the flesh of the fruit. It was developed by Professor Vilém Kraus in Lednice in southern Moravia.

Neronet has medium growth which in fertile soils is vigourous, the shoots are upright with abundant foliage of medium-sized, deeply indented, dark-green leaves, which turn blood-red in autumn.

Bunches are medium, wing-shaped, loose, with small berries whose skins as well as flesh have a blueish-black colour. The wood matures early and well. Resistance to frost is medium to good, to fungal diseases medium, to grey rot good. Yields are both regular and good. To a large degree the assimilated sugars are transformed into colouring agents and tannins, meaning that the must-weight is not usually too high, which is quite normal in the case of teinturiers (red grapes whch have red juice as well).

On the nose one may discern indications of blackcurrant along with cherry.


Wines from Neronet can be made in two ways. The crushed grapes are left for several hours and then are pressed. The resulting must is red and the vinification can continue in the same way as for white wine without further maceration and contact with the skins. The red wine thus obtained is very soft, less tannic, with a neutral palate and is suitable for immediate consumption. Or else grapes are left to macerate on the skins and then undergo the fermentation process in the same way as for a normal red wine. This way the wine obtained is deep, intense, with good colour extract and has a high tannic content. It is very well suited for increasing the colour as well as the tannin level in other red wines which are lacking in these attributes. Because Neronet is early ripening it imparts its intense colour to the wine even in lesser vintages.

Basic characteristics of quality wines.

Very deep red colour with blue reflections. On the nose one may discern indications of blackcurrant along with cherry. The wine has a medium to full body and lends something of the character of southern wine regions with its expressive tannic structure.

Translation © Helena & John Baker 2004.

V. Kraus a kol.