Clones of white wine grape varieties Aligoté, Riesling, and Chardonnay with valuable agronomic traits adapted to climate change in the Northwestern Ciscaucasia

Unstable weather conditions characteristic of the moderately continental climate of the Northwestern Ciscaucasia contribute to somatic mutations in grapevines and the emergence of biotypes exhibiting both positive and negative traits within long-cultivated varieties. Clonal selection has made it possible to identify, within a wide diversity, the most adaptive protoclones of Aligoté, Chardonnay, and Riesling varieties, which retain their favorable agronomic and productivity traits in vegetative progeny. This study was aimed at selecting the most promising biotypes possessing heritable traits of high adaptability and productivity for their subsequent inclusion in the Russian State Register of Plant Varieties and Hybrids Approved for Use. The research objects were protoclones of the first and second vegetative generations of the white wine grape varieties Aligoté, Riesling, and Chardonnay. For the Aligoté variety, in the first vegetative generation at the clonal testing site in Anapa (2014–2016), protoclones ZA 11-75-15 and ZA 11-79-37 were identified based on superior agronomic traits and productivity. These protoclones exceeded the reference samples in the proportion of fruitful shoots, total number of clusters, fruiting coefficient (K1), and overall productivity. The yield of ZA 11-79-37 was 20 % higher than that of the control, while ZA 11-91-15 exceeded it by 12 %. In the second vegetative generation at the clonal testing site in Taman Peninsula, the ZA 11-79-37 protoclone, unlike other biotypes, maintained high agronomic performance and productivity. In 2015–2016, its yield corresponded to the average values of the studied analogues, while in 2025 it exceeded the control by 35 %. For the Chardonnay variety, the ZSh 137-44 protoclone demonstrated the greatest stability and productivity at all stages of evaluation. It outperformed the other varieties in the number of fruitful shoots, number of clusters, shoot productivity, and yield, exceeding the control by 9–22 %. For the Riesling variety, protoclones RYUCH 38-67 and RYUCH 39-39 were identified. The yield of RYUCH 38-67 exceeded the control by 10–31%, while RYUCH 39-39 exceeded it by 7–32 %.

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