🍇 Vanessa

Vanessa is a Canadian table grape with red-pink berries whose seeds are only rudimentary. It was bred by Helen Fisher and Oliver Bradt at the Horticultural Research Institute of Ontario (HRIO) in Vineland: Seneca was crossed with the selection New York 45910 in 1965, and the best seedling was selected in 1972.

According to the breeders' paper in HortScience (1985), the aim was a seedless table grape hardy enough to survive winters in southern Ontario. Grape breeding at HRIO began as early as 1913, and Vanessa was the seventh variety from this programme. In trials it carried the number Vineland 65164, and catalogues also use the name Vanessa Seedless. VIVC gives the pedigree from the breeders' data; it has not been checked with genetic markers. The University of Guelph calls Vanessa a semi-seedless variety, one of two released by Helen Fisher.

In North Carolina State University's trial of seedless table grapes (crops of 2007 and 2009), Vanessa was described as a red dessert grape of excellent quality, one of the best of the red seedless types. The flavour is mild and fruity, the berries are medium-sized and firm to crisp, and the clusters are medium. Sugar was 21 %, and the harvest fell on 20–27 July. According to VIVC, the flower is hermaphrodite, the variety is kept in 9 collections, and in 1991 it covered 0.28 ha in Canada. A draft amendment to the regulation of the Austrian state of Styria adds Vanessa to the varieties permitted for table grape growing.

Why it matters to you. Vanessa is an example of a seedless table grape created specifically for cold winters, so its story explains why such varieties appeared in Canada. And the name Vanessa Seedless does not mean entirely seedless: the berries can contain soft seed remnants.