From Southmeadow Fruit Garden catalog.
“HOOPLE’S ANTIQUE GOLD - A russet-skinned sport or bud mutation from a standard Golden Delicious tree in the orchards of Mr. Harry Hoople of Hoople Fruit Farm in Otway, Ohio. This is one of the most beautiful apples we have ever seen with a russet skin of amazing antique gold coloration. The flavor is also of extraordinary merit and indeed its universally favorable reception from those who had tasted it was the reason Mr. Hoople sent it to Southmeadow for propagation. Hoople’s Antique Gold varies from the original not only in beautiful skin color but in crispier flesh and intensity of flavor. We are most grateful he has enabled us to make this superb new variety available to fruit connoisseurs. Season same as Golden Delicious.”
Whatever it is, it’s an excellent find. And I agree with their assessment of its beauty.
Mrs. G.,
Yesterday I had two Calcille Blanc d’hiver on my tree. This morning, there was only one left. Fortunately the bigger, riper one. I picked it. From the look of it ( shrivelled skin in some area, I felt it got freeze damage.
I ate it but could not squeeze any juice to measure its brix. Its texture reminded me of the texture of Golden Delicious. It was more tart than sweet. Seeds were mostly dark. It might need a week to fully ripen. So far, this one, both taste and texture, did not stand out.
Thats also how it is for me, not too exciting. I have heard it can take several years to produce good apples though so its worth giving it a few more years. For me the rot is so bad that I am going to remove it this winter.
Remember many grafts that produce apples for the first time, do not taste their best. Patience, my friend. This is a case of the tree growing into the apple! All of my apples didn’t taste right until the tree matured. You are dealing with just one branch or so. How do you tell when a grafted apple is mature?
I think your rot has to do with where you live. I too am in an exceedingly humid area during the summer, but not like Maryland, or Virginia. None of my apples have ever had rot. Only plums and peaches, cherries and apricots.
I had some this year that were almost smooth on a tree that is for certain Calville Blanc. The bugs love that variety and I do too! Our tree is 6 years in the ground and doing well. The flavor has been complex and very good. It likes to outgrow the rootstock in my experience.
Mamuang, That sure looks like a winter banana. I stop at an abandoned tree every year and get a few off the ground and end up throwing them out the car window. Sour, dry, and mealy.
Just to confuse matters: I have an old Winter Banana tree here, and the apples aren’t sour at all, even when not fully ripe. @mamuang’s apples don’t look like my WB at all. I think your abandoned tree might be something else.
Red dots on fruit are often the result of scale and I saw quite a bit of that this year. It is a dangerous pest if left untreated. Sometimes a single oil app is spring is adequate- sometimes not.
I agree with Scott. I have a Caville Blanc d’ Hiver tree and my fruit all have the ribbing on each apple. I only had about 6 or 8 of them on my tree. This is the second fruiting but I only had two apples on it last year. All of those had some sort of ribbing as well.
That makes me sad. Perhaps you are mistaken about what apple it really is. I have a Winter Banana growing in my orchard. I really planted it because it was supposed to be a great pollinator for the most part. I have 4 Golden Delicious planted as pollinators as well. I thought I would change it up and get a Winter Banana to try out. Maybe that was a planting error on my part, like that was my first planting mistake, lol.
GR (brownish) is sweet, tart and complex. It reminds me a lot of Hooples but not as sweet. We like it lot.
Envy is a denser and sweeter Honey Crisp. If you are a big fan of sweet apples, this should be on one of the top on your list. The texture is definitely denser. I like it a lot. Don’t eat it before eating other apples. The sweetness of Envy will ruin the taste of other apples.
Which one is juicer? That is the one I would buy and cook with. Hard to get me away from my own apples though. When I am out, I’d rather wait till next summer. . .
