Mekrenchkhi
Mekrenchkhi – is a red grapevine variety, which, with its taste or grape, transportability and good ability of preservation, belongs to the high quality table grape grapevine varieties.
Mekrenchkh is quite cultivated in Guria, by the name “Makurenchkhi,” which is identical to the Mekhrenchkhi presented in Adjara.
In the villages od Vaio and Zvare it is known also as Mekrenchkhala. There are very few materials available in special literature about Mekrenchkhi. For example, S. Timofeevi (8) places it among the indigenous grapevine varieties of Guria-Adjara with the use of table grape. Only its name and distribution area were mentioned by acad. Iv. Javakhishvili (5), Er. Nakashidze (7), and Viala (10) in their works.
Many years were devoted to the exploration of Makurenchkhi and Mekrenchkhi (Mekrenchkhela) in Guria-Adjara. Investigation has revealed and proved that they are identical on the one hand and on the other hand, they are both included in the group of indigenous grapevine varieties of Guria-Adjara, as typical representatives of the grapevine family of Kolkheti. Hence, Mekrenchkhi belongs to the endemic group of grapevine varieties of Guria-Adjara and has no relation to the indigenous grapevine varieties of Eastern Georgia.
In the past, Mekrenchkhi and Makurenchkhi were widely cultivated as high vineyards in the mountainous villages of Guria- Ajdara, mostly used as consumption grape; often being left on vines for some time during the autumn and winter. Some farmers used it for making wine that is not long-lasting and is lower quality than the wines of other grapevine varieties (from Chkhaveri, Jani, Mtevandidi, Brola, Khofaturi and others).
High vineyards of Mekrenchkhi have been massively destroyed by the negative influence of fungal diseases and phylloxera; only a few vines remain (in Guria – in the villages: Shemokmedi, Likhauri, Bakhvi, while in Adjara – in the villages: Vaio, Keda, Zvare), however their productivity depends on weather. The grafts of Meekrenchkhi are cultivated as low vineyards in Keda, which are characterized with quite strong development, productivity and quality.
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Botanical description
High and low vines of Mekrenchkhi were described in the villages Vaio (Keda district) and Keda (the same district).
The young shoot
The buds, during breaking, are covered with a thick felt-like coating, as is the cone of growth- both are greenishred.
The newly-opened first leaf on the topside is greenishviolet, slightly reddish and covered with thick felt-like down as on the top and on the underside. The following second and third young leaves are bright greenish-violet. The second leaf is more intensively coated than the third; both of them on the underside are covered with thick felt-like down.
The young shoot is round and bright green, thickly covered with white-grayish down.
The one year sprout
The mature sprout is middle-sized, and brownish, its axils are darker and are distanced by 6 - 17cm from each other.
The leaf
The mature leaf is middle-sized, roundish or oval, slightly lobed, about 15.4 - 15.8cm long and 15.3 - 15.7cm wide. The incision of the petiole is similar to the lyre and acute-angled; the margins consist of three veins; also elliptical incisions can be found.
The upper incisions are slightly cut, rarely strongly cut, while the lower incisions are slightly cut.
The leaf is three-lobed. The tip creates an obtuse angle to the blade.
The teeth of margin tips are triangular with a sharp or rounded tip, rarely similar to the teeth of a saw. The secondary teeth are similar to the major teeth.
The underside of a leaf is covered with thick felt-like down; its topside is smooth and sometimes wrinkled like a net. The blade is flat, rarely curled like a funnel. The major veins are downy and bright green.
The proportion of the petiole to the central major vein is 0.8 - 1.0. The petiole is lightly coated and bright green, to the basis taking on a red wine-coloring.
The flower
The flower is hermaphroditic, consisting of normally developed stamens and pistil, rarely maintaining defective stamens. There are 5 stamens in a flower, rarely 4 and 6. There are about 300 flowers in an inflorescence.
The bunch
The pedicel of a bunch is 3 - 5cm long. The bunch is 10 - 16cm long and 6 - 10cm wide; and is generally conecylindrical, thin- sometimes quite dense. The pedicel of a bunch, together with the shoot, is grass-like and bright green.
The grain
The length of the pedicel, including the receptacle, is 4 - 5mm. The pedicel is green, becoming red wine-colored to the basis. The receptacle is wrinkled and wide cone-shaped; and the berry is firmly attached to it.
The berry is dark blue (nearly black), middle-sized or larger: from 13 to 19 mm long and 12.7 - 18.8mm wide; is roundish, wider in the middle part, has a rounded end and is symmetrical. The berry is thick-skinned and easy to chew. The berry is fleshy and less juicy, has a very pleasant sweet taste, and is covered with wax-like spots.
The seed
There are 1-4, often 3 seeds in a grain, which is about 6 - 6.5mm long and 3 - 4mm wide. The seed is almost brown, on the inside – reddish, while across the channels – yellowish. The basis is well depicted and placed in the middle of the rear, is longish oval and smooth on the back. The beak is yellowish, 1 - 1.2mm.
Agro-biological description
Phenologicalogical observations over the biological phases of Mekrenchkhi were conducted in Adjara, in the collective vineyards of the villages Vaio and Keda.
The 5-year mean characteristics reflecting the course of particular biological phases are presented below in Table 1.
In Vaio village, the entire vegetation period of Mekrenchkhi lasts 231 days, while in the collective vineyard of Keda – 239 days. In Vaio village, the vegetation period of high vineyards is 10 - 15 days less than that of low vineyards due to the influence of fungal diseases and early fall of leaves whereas, in low vines, if cultivated properly the leave-fall lasts even through to December, until 8 - 10 December. The break of buds begins from 6 - 10 April, the blossom period – from 8 - 12 June until 23 - 25 June; the reipening of the grape occurs at the end of August or the beginning of September, while the full ripening – from 20 - 25 October. The fall of flowers takes place from mid November to the first half of December. The sprouts of high vines of Mekrenchkhi in the surrounding areas of Keda and Vaio start ripening partly, 70 - 75%, by the time of full grape-ripening, while to the end of the vegetation period by 90 - 95%. The remaining immature tips and additional sprouts cannot ripen and are frozen during the winter frosts. However, on low vines because of maintaining proper and timely caring, sprouts do reach full ripenness.
As much in high as in low vineyards Mekrenchkhi is characterized with moderate or stronger growing of vines by generating 2m long sprouts or longer by the end of vegetation.
The productivity
The productivity of high vineyards of Mekrenchkhi varies depending on theweather, in suitable climate conditions it can produce 20 - 30kg grape per vine.
Observation indicates that low formations of Mekrenchkhi vines are characterized with higher productivity and quality because of easy cultivation and better possibilities of care, as is shown in the collective vineyard of Keda.
Below are presented the 5 year mean characteristics of the productivity of both high and low vineyards of vines (see Table 2).
As was noted above, the productivity of high vines varies widely; the quality of their production is lower than that of low vineyards. However, similarity can be distinguished in certain characteristics, for example, in the coefficient of productivity 1.7 (high) and 1.8 (low); and in the number of bunches on a sprout- usually two or rarely one. Distinction between the two appears in the appearance of bunches which are more beautiful and typical on low rather than high formations.
This grapevine variety is characterized with flower-fall, about 15%, and consistency of small berries, about 2 - 3%.
During the autumn, the berries of Mekrenchkhi easily break due to the influence of rains and pests that significantly reduces productivity.
Resistance to fungal diseases and pests
Mekrenchkhi is less resistant to fungal diseases, especially to powdery mildew- more so in high rather than low vineyards where one additional administering of fungicide is enough to fight against and maintain the proper development of vines.
Observation confirms that this variety’s that the resistance to phylloxera is extremely low, proved by the mass disappearance of high vineyards; as was noted above, only individual vines remain cultivated on their own roots in Makharadze district.
Response to the environment
Based on observations it can be said that Mekrenchkhi is not sensitive to the environment and can evolve in almost all ecological circumstances, however it should also be remembered that its berry is vulnerable to the rainy days of autumn, and can break easily due to excessive consistency of water. For this, the cultivation of this grapevine variety in damp places should be avoided where the ground water is close to the topsoil.
In order to get high quality production, Mekrenchkhi should be planted in sun-lit and highland, mountainous districts.
Like other local grapevine varieties, Mekrenchkhi is quite resistant to winter frosts (in Guria-Adjara – 6, -10) as it generates vegetative parts successfully and follows the entire vegetation period without difficulties.
From agro-technical issues, significant attention should be paid to the pruning and forming. Observations show that Mekrenchkhi is well adaptable as much to long as short pruning, and also develops successfully as well in high as in low vineyards in case of proper care. Therefore, the issue of pruning and forming does not require special consideration; however, in order to make working operations mush easier and the productivity larger, the formation of low vineyards by relatively high vines and loading at 24 - 30, or formation by cordon is recommended.
Agro-technical description
Mekrenchkhi provides high quality grape but it is not suitable for use in the wine industry. The wine made from Mekrenchkhi grape is less balanced and can be preserved long; while the grape is well transportable and can keep until January if left on the vine or until spring, after picking.
The samples of Mekrenchkhi grape for the mechanical-chemical analysis were taken from Vaio village, indicating the following: there are 60 berries on a bunch weighing 100g; the middle-sized bunch consists of 6.0% - scion; 19.6% - skin; 3.6% seed; and 65.0% - juice. The weight of a large bunch is 135g, while of a small – 80g.
The average weight of 100 berries is 158g. There are 308 seeds in 100 berries, which weigh 7g, of them: 3% are one-seeded berries; 16% - two-seeded; 51% - three-seeded; and 30% - four-seeded berries.
The grape consists of 17-18% sugar and 9.1% acidity.
General evaluation and distribution by district
Mekrenchkhi is a very interesting grapevine variety for cultivation in Western Georgia, as it provides high quality table grape that is crucial in the supply to resorts situated along the coast of the Black Sea of consumption grape.
Mekrenchkhi, having been domesticated and cultivated in Guria-Adjara through the centuries, should be considered as a very prospective grapevine variety due to its high productivity and providence of high quality table grape, for wide cultivation in Guria-Adjara: in Guria – in the mountainous villages situated along the rivers Bakhvistskali, Gubazouli and Sufsa, while in Adjara – in the gorge of Adjaristskali, in the districts of Keda and Shuakhevi.
Since the grape of Mekrenchkhi can be damaged by extensive damp, this grapevine variety should not be cultivated in lowland areas where the ground water is near to the surface i.e. to the topsoil, and where the air is also moist. In order to obtain high productivity and quality production, Mekrenchkhi should be planted on southern or south-eastern slopes as low vineyards but formed with height and as cordons.
To eliminate the negative impact of phylloxera, to which Mekrenchkhi is low-resistant, this grapevine variety should be grafted on phylloxera-resistant rootstocks and cultivated this way.
Bibliography
1. Ketskhoveli N., Zone of Cultural Plants in Georgia. Tbilisi, 1957.
2. Orbeliani Sulkhan-Saba. Georgian Vocabulary, Tbiisi, 1928.
3. Ramishvili M., Vine Types of Guria, Samegrelo and Adjara. Tbilisi, 1948.
4. Cholokhashvili S., Viticulture, Vol. II, Ampelography. Tbilisi, 1938.
5. Javakhishvili Iv., Economic History of Georgia, Vol. II. Tbilisi, 1934.
6. Jorjadze L. Viticulture, Winemaking and Improvement. Tbilisi, 1876.
