Description
Summer Royal is a black seedless table grape bred by David Ramming and Ronald Tarailo of the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Fresno, California, from a 1985 cross, and released in 1999. Its round to oval berries, around 5 g, are firm, crisp and sweet with a neutral flavour, carried in medium-sized, conical, slightly loose bunches. It was bred to fill the late-August gap when few American black seedless grapes are available.
Characteristics
Black seedless table grape; round to oval berries about 5 g; firm, crisp, sweet; medium conical, slightly loose bunches; ripens late August in California; extremely vigorous
Growing Tips
Summer Royal is an extremely vigorous vine, and University of California guidance recommends training it on a quadrilateral cordon with spur pruning, ideally with a gable or wide trellis to spread the growth. Berry set can be variable, and UC work shows that managing vine vigour around bloom, for example by girdling or careful irrigation, helps. At the UC Fair Oaks vineyard it is spur pruned and ripens in August with very sweet fruit.