Both looks similar but different. Taste, texture productivity all different. RDB puts out figs like crazy but Rossa needs extra help in my climate. I also find Rossa is a bit firmer. I'm posting this as some members want to compare these two.

Rossa Rotonda:

   
Ronde De Bordeaux:

   
Rossa Rotonda VS Ronde De Bordeaux:

 

Rossa looks awesome!! Which tastes better?

How many trees do you have of each and have you gone with alternate or random placement in the trial?

They both look great and delicious! Thanks for sharing your photos and experience with them!

What state and zone are you? RDB is supposed to be excellent for cooler rainy climatesand short seasons. If Roads proves to be decent for those conditions it would be worth a try.

Cool thanks for sharing!

Vinny, I just asked because there was a well founded assertion made years ago that all of Lubera's varieties are simply renamed plants direct from Mercato Verde. In fact they are still "stealing" some pictures from Mercato Verde. Of course they must be one of Mercato Verde''s best customers so perhaps they do have permission, but why would they be allowed if the plants were not purchased from them. Their website is very convincing, but if they have an exclusive and have tested these thoroughly why not have their own pictures? 

All the same, the names mean they originated from Lubera.

Blackmoore:


Lubera:

Although I don't agree with nurseries renaming figs, we got a lot of varieties renamed by the US nurseries and even people adding their initials next to a known variety etc. Like this I-258 , it must have a different name . Paradisio is another one, there is like 4 different types with people's names attached to it. How can someone call a fruit after themselves unless they started it from seed or something. Then there is My enta types , all looks like hardy Chiago lol still we group all of them under one category. So I think I can forgive lubera for what they did. One thing for sure is all their figs ripen well in uk weather conditions , we just have to figure out the real name lol. Maybe call them Mt lubera types

Italian 258 does have a real name out there somewhere. In the US the situation is very convoluted because of the way all of the different varieties were brought here. Italian 258 is popular because many growers have trialed it over long periods and had success. There was absolutely no marketing involved in the name Italian 258, the name was lost. The Paradisio's have different names because they carried them from the old country still attached, presumably different regions of Italy have their own idea of what paradise is ;)

Funny you mention the Mt. Etnas because my question about planting arrangement is related to my own trials of them. There is quite a bit of variation from tree to tree every year, even branch to branch in some cases. 

 

All of the Etna fruits above came from plants with the same mother, they have varying levels of winter damage and therefore different growth rates so even though they are the same age and planted right next to one another they fruit sooner or later than each other, have necks or don't, thin peels or thick, darker or lighter etc. Take a good long gander. Of course there is argument!

I had a chef taste several different Etna types and she picked up very subtle differences between them and I do too but only sometimes, some have slight leaf shape differences that seem to be consistent and are more apparent, like Sal's and MBVS for example. If I do go through with the trial I may just keep the results to myself, since some people will be dissapointed however it turns out. I saw a plant on eBay being sold as a "must have" with an obscure name from a simple list that had no authoratative information from a relaible source for the buyer to ever verify they have been sold the correct variety, it has an Etna leaf but the seller neither declared that or showed pictures of fruit or the mother. So yes you are right it is confusing and some people could be quite genuine while others take advantage.

I have a small fleet of RdBs in various situations and have seen more variation than you have between the 2 "varieties". At least with Bayernfeige there is a claim made, it is supposed to be more cold hardy than the usual English Brown Turkey. Well, how a patent office could verify that I don't know, but you could easily fake a hardiness trial by selecting trees that are more hardened or softer. In Lubera's situation they make no claims, so nothing to confirm or deny.

Hello there, I recently bought a rossa rotunda fig from blackmoor and wondered if you could tell me if this has a breba crop or is more of an early main variety.

In my climate, RDB is FANTASTIC!  If the RR is better, then it has my full attention. RDB here is very sweet, rich, full of flavor, with a nice berry note.