🍇 Sultana

White kishmish (Sultanina, Thompson Seedless) is a white seedless grape, the world's most widespread variety for drying and for the table. According to the OIV, it covered about 273,000 ha in 2015. The VIVC catalogue lists it as a table, wine and raisin grape originating in Central Asia.

The variety is very old. The OIV writes that it was the first cultivated seedless grape and that, according to the grape-variety researcher Pierre Galet, it comes from Afghanistan. It is grown most in the Middle East, in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and in Central Asia, where it is called kishmish. VIVC lists as many as 167 synonyms, among them Sultana, Sultanina and Thompson Seedless.

The berries are small and oval, with thick skins and crisp flesh, which makes them easy to dry. The vine is very vigorous, but its fertility is reduced, so it is trained on trellises and pruned long. Yields range from 11–20 t/ha in Chile to 20–80 t/ha in South Africa. The Cypriot PGI Larnaca file names Sultanina as one of the most widespread grapes of Larnaca.

White kishmish is one of the main parents of seedless grapes. Among its offspring VIVC names Perlette, Himrod, Interlaken, Lakemont, Romulus, Thomcord and Tarrango.

Why it matters to you. The names kishmish, Sultana, Sultanina and Thompson Seedless on a pack of light raisins or fresh grapes all mean one variety. The OIV notes that it is susceptible to downy mildew, powdery mildew and botrytis and prone to berry splitting. If the grape is named on an EU wine label, it makes up at least 85 % of the wine.