Sauvignon KT 10

Sauvignon Blanc, clone KT 10, is a premium, officially certified domestic clonal selection of the famous French white wine grape variety Sauvignon Blanc, developed and selected at the Faculty of Agriculture in Novi Sad, Department of Fruit Growing and Viticulture, Sremski Karlovci. The elite domestic clone KT 10 was developed primarily to obtain significantly more stable and regular yields under our agroecological conditions, to reduce the sensitivity of flower buds to shatter, while fully preserving the extremely rich, penetrating, and recognizable varietal aromatic profile and high level of refreshing acidity. Today, it represents the pride of domestic breeding and an ideal standard for establishing professional vineyards.

It is a fully self-fertile variety. The flower is morphologically hermaphroditic, properly developed and bisexual, with a high level of self-pollination and abundant pollen. Unlike imported variants, which often suffer from weaker fruit set and shatter in poor and unstable continental springs, the domestic clone KT 10 is characterized by exceptionally stable fertilization and the formation of attractive, uniform clusters without pronounced millerandage. It flowers medium-early.

The vine is vigorous, with strong and energetic vegetative growth and a strong genetic tendency to form a large number of lateral shoots. It requires the mandatory installation of a strong, high, and stable training structure, such as a wire trellis, as well as rigorous and timely canopy management. Shoot thinning, shoot topping, and timely defoliation, or leaf removal, around the cluster zone are mandatory in order to ensure maximum ventilation and prevent shading. It enters full bearing early after planting grafted grapevines and produces regular, stable, and moderately high yields of premium quality. It requires mixed or long pruning, leaving canes with 8 to 10 buds along with replacement spurs, because the lowest, basal buds on the shoot are naturally often sterile or weakly productive.

It belongs to the group of early wine grape varieties, the first ripening epoch. In our region and under continental climatic conditions, it ripens very early, at the end of August and during the first half of September.

Harvest timing is of decisive, critical importance and, in our conditions, is most often carried out at the end of August or in the first week of September. Technological maturity parameters, sugar content, and especially total acidity must be monitored daily before harvest, because Sauvignon has the characteristic of losing essential acidity extremely quickly at full maturity. To obtain premium, fresh, green, and highly aromatic wines, harvesting is carried out by hand in the early morning hours, or at night, with urgent transport of the grapes and rapid processing in the winery under controlled low temperature and reductive conditions.

It is an absolutely premium wine variety and is not intended for fresh table consumption. The domestic clone KT 10 delivers outstanding oenological results: it produces exceptionally fresh, elegant, crystal-clear, lively, and extractive white wines. It is characterized by a very strong, luxurious, and recognizably varietal aromatic profile dominated by fresh green and herbal notes, such as cut grass, green pepper, and tomato leaf, which at full maturity are perfectly balanced with elegant tones of citrus, gooseberry, and tropical fruit, leaving a long-lasting, clean, and vibrant finish on the palate.

The cluster is small to medium-sized, with an average weight of 90 to 140 g, uniform on the vine, cylindrical-conical in shape, often with one pronounced lateral wing, and fairly dense and compact. The berries are medium-sized and regular in their round shape. The skin is thicker, firm, and elastic, yellow-green in color, and at full maturity on the sun-exposed side it develops a beautiful pale yellowish amber shade, covered with a fine waxy bloom. The flesh is soft, very juicy, melting, and refreshingly sweet-acidic, with colorless, clear juice.

It is moderately resistant to fungal diseases. It is highly susceptible to powdery mildew, Uncinula necator, and susceptible to downy mildew. Due to the natural compactness of the clusters and the high vigor of the leaf canopy, in humid and rainy autumns before harvest it may be susceptible to gray mold of the cluster, Botrytis cinerea, which requires mandatory and regular preventive chemical protection and timely leaf removal around the fruit zone for better ventilation. It shows very good natural resistance to low winter frosts and temperatures, with winter buds tolerating frosts down to -18°C to -20°C without damage.

The root system is strong, moderately deep, and branched. It gives the best results and achieves premium wine quality on light, permeable, poorer, gravelly, marly, and calcareous soils on hilly, elevated, and well-ventilated sites. It absolutely does not tolerate heavy, compacted, clayey, wet, and overly fertile lowland soils, where shoot vigor becomes uncontrollable and the quality and varietal aromatic expression of the grapes decline drastically.

Our grafted grapevine plants are produced on highly compatible, certified rootstocks: Kober 5BB, Berlandieri x Riparia Kober 5BB, and SO4. These rootstocks ensure a perfect and long-lasting anatomical graft union with Sauvignon, ideally control its natural vigor, and provide outstanding adaptability to skeletal and calcareous terrains with a high content of active lime in the soil.