I have a vineyard of seedless table grapes. The name of the kind of
grapes is "superior".In the last 2 seasons, and especially this year,
Ihave a problem with a bad flavor in the skin of the berries. The bad
flavor comes, apparently, from tannin. My question is: is there
something I shoild do, or maybe something I should'nt do, or do
otherwise, in order to prevent this bad flavor?

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Request for Question Clarification by chromedome-ga on 08 Oct 2003 09:14 PDT

Hi, Alex!

Three questions:  1) How long have you been growing this particular
cultivar?  2) Is this problem a recurrance of something you'd seen
before, or is it new?  3) Do you grow other grape varieties?  Have
they been similarly affected?

Actually, I guess that's four...

-Chromedome

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Clarification of Question by alex6042-ga on 09 Oct 2003 02:22 PDT

Hi chromodome! 1) I have been growing this particular cultivar since
1987. 2)until last year (2002) there did'ntseem to be any problem.
There were no complaints from the market and I did'nt feel any bad
flavor myself. Last year I did feel it here and there, but it did'nt
cause any marketing problem. Only this summer it became a marketing
issue. 3) I grow 3 other varieties: Thompson Seedless, Red-Globe, and
a local variety called Zani or Helwani. There is'nt any tannin problem
with any one of them.

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Request for Question Clarification by chromedome-ga on 09 Oct 2003 13:38 PDT

Great!  That'll be a big help.  I've got some feelers out, and I'm
just waiting for some replies.

One thing further: what's your location?  There might be a climate
issue which the "Superior" grapes are susceptible to, but which does
not impact the other cultivars.  I'm making the assumption here that
the soil your grapes are grown in is similar across the board, or you
would already have mentioned it.

-Chromedome

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Clarification of Question by alex6042-ga on 10 Oct 2003 01:48 PDT

My location is southern Israel-Lakhish. It is half way between
Ashkelon and Hebron. The soil is "similar across the board" as you
say. It is what we call "heavy" soil. I believe it is loam in english.

Hello again, Alex.

Well, your question proved to be rather an interesting one to
research.  As you'd probably discovered before you came to us, the
gardening sites are of little use; offering all the advice in the
world about roses and hostas (or peas and carrots) but little to do
with grapes of any kind.

Fortunately, the "Superior Seedless" variety you are growing comes
with an unseen extra which is rare in the agricultural world:
technical support.

In my efforts to locate an authoritative source for information, I
tracked down the company which developed and owns the "Superior"
seedless cultivar.  They are Sun World International, who also
developed the popular "Red Flame" seedless grape (we see "Red Flame" a
lot, here in Canada).  I sent an e-mail to their customer service
feedback address, outlining your problem.

I received a reply today from David Marguleas of Sun World.  To my
surprise, he informed me that the company maintains a technical
support staff for just such issues.  Their support people correspond
directly with the grower to determine the cause of their problems, and
to suggest the most effective solutions available.

Mr. Marguleas asked me to pass along his e-mail address to you. 
Simply send him a message, letting him know that you're "the Google
Answers guy," and that you're in Israel.  He, in turn, will connect
you with a support person responsible for growers in your region.  His
e-mail address is:

dmarguleas@sun-world.com

Search strategy

Initially, I'd tried various combinations of keywords such as "grape
cultivation" "troubleshooting" "FAQ" "tips" etc; but to little effect.
 Searching on "Superior Seedless" and "cultivar", however, brought me
to Sun World's website after exploring a few false trails.  Their main
site is found at

http://www.sun-world.com/

In the past, I've combed through mountains of contradictory advice on
a wide variety plants.  It's been a chore, at best, and deciding which
information was reliable was sometimes difficult.  I'm happy I was
able to locate authoritative assistance for you, and who better than
the developers of the cultivar?

Good luck with next year's crop!

Regards,

-Chromedome