Monday, September 13, 2010

Midnight Beauty Seedless Black Grape

I saw these in the supermarket the other day and only bought them because they were advertised as being 30% off (1.38€ for half kilo). I like grapes, they are great with a platter of italian cheeses and nuts, but as an everyday snack, grapes are not my favorite fruit. Midnight Beauty changed all that as they are the sweetest black grapes that I have ever tasted anywhere, and they don't have seeds!

I found out that these were developed by the agri-business company Sun World under registered trademark which means that growing them in my garden will never happen. No seeds, no seedling, and being a hybrid guarantees that I wouldn't get the same plant anyway.

15 comments:

Jude said...

Oh mmm, black beauties indeed! I love their luscious look, and even better that they're seedless (little wonders of the gardening world never cease to amaze me)

Rowena said...

Jude - I bet these would make great raisins!

K and S said...

yummy! the ones we have here you have to peel and they have seeds but they are super sweet.

Rowena said...

Kat - that means that at least a gardener would have a chance at growing them...which is good. I don't wholly like the idea of hybrid fruit, and especially registered trademarks because it is the company that determines who gets to grow them. But as long as the price is reasonable I guess that's all consumers can hope for. It's like those chile peppers that are also protected by trademark...can't even grow those either without breaking the law.

Racquel said...

Gorgeous grapes, love that their seedless. :)

Rowena said...

Racquel - ditto that! I discovered here in Italy that it is not uncommon to eat the entire grape...seeds and all...so while I will occasionally eat them that way I still prefer no seeds if I have a choice.

~fer said...

Those grapes look amazing!

i love the second photo, how the little velvet looking moist shows how fresh the fruits are. They look so delicious.

If you want to try to grow some similar grapes you can try Kyoho grape or any derivatives(like pione), its originally from japan, and once it was trademark too, but now is open and everybody can grow it.
It might be tricky to get one outside of japan, but i have heard is quite possible since it is a very coveted type people around are exporting it.

Rowena said...

fer - thanks for the suggestion. I'll definitely keep an eye open for those!

Gail - Fort Rock Glimpses said...

They look wonderful! Sad that they are a hybrid. Seems like that gets more common all the time.

Faith said...

Mmm. Try them frozen. Frozen grapes are super delicious. Too bad about being a hybrid.

Sue Swift said...

Ek - when I came in to read I got a virus warning. It's never happened before and I'm here anyway, but you might like to check - don't ask me how :(
We're gorging on grapes too at the moment ...

Rowena said...

Gail - disappointing, isn't it? Just as well (for me), because we don't have any more space to plant another vine or tree!

Faith - I hope more of these will be on the shelves on the next grocery trip. Never tried frozen grapes and they do sound like a treat!

Sue - nothing from my end so I guess the coast is clear. We are moving on from grapes to chestnuts now, but I really look forward to the persimmons!

Christina said...

It isn't unlikely that you'll grow them. You'll just need to get a cutting from an existing plant (grapes grow really well from cuttings, remarkably, frighteningly well), or keep your eye on the radar for it to hit garden centers. Every commercial variety gets there eventually.

David Velten said...

Little late posting here, but just saw the article. Black Beauty is a black muscadine grape, a type of grape native to the southeastern US. It is a patented variety, so you can't propagate it yourself but you can definitely buy plants, at least in the US. A lot is grown for market in California and Chile. If your grapes were grown somewhere in Europe, there should be a source of plants there. Here's another plus: Black Beauty has one of the highest concentrations of Reservatrol, the anti-aging antioxidant found in red wine. So eat lots of Black Beauty grapes and live long and well.

Rowena said...

I keep my eyes open for this one every spring when the nurseries roll out the new stuff. Too bad the crop that ended up in the supermarkets this year was not up to par (they looked to be a few days past their prime and were pricey!). I'm loving the added plus too.