Eldorado

(Labrusca, Vinifera)





The fruit of Eldorado is delicately flavored, with a distinct aroma

and taste and ripens about with that of Moore Early--a time when there

are few other good white grapes. The vines inherit most of the good

qualities of Concord, one of its parents, excepting ability to set

large crops. Even with cross-pollination, Eldorado sometimes fails to

bear and is not worth growing unless planted in a mixed vineyard. The

clusters are so often small and straggling under the best conditions

that the variety cannot be recommended highly to the amateur; yet its

delightful flavor and its earliness commend it. J. H. Ricketts,

Newburgh, New York, grew Eldorado about 1870 from seed of Concord

fertilized by Allen's Hybrid.



Vine vigorous, hardy, an uncertain bearer. Canes long, few, thick,

flattened, bright reddish-brown; nodes enlarged, flattened;

tendrils intermittent, rarely continuous, bifid or trifid. Leaves

large to medium, irregularly round, dark green; upper surface

rugose on older leaves; lower surface tinged with brown,

pubescent; lobes wanting or faintly three; petiolar sinus deep;

teeth shallow. Flowers self-sterile, open late; stamens reflexed.



Fruit early, keeps well. Clusters do not always set perfectly and

are variable in size, frequently single-shouldered; pedicel short,

slender, smooth; brush short, yellow. Berries large, round,

yellowish-green changing to golden yellow, covered with thin

bloom; flesh tender, foxy, sweet, mild, high flavored; good to

very good in quality. Seeds intermediate in size and length,

blunt, yellowish-brown.