Golden Delicious vs Gibson Golden

General Fruit Growing
#1

I recently visited u-pick apple farm where was pretty disappointed with majority of apples left on the tree - most of them, including old fashioned ones were pretty bland. We ended up picking some apples that were better than others called Gibson Golden. After 2 weeks in unheated shed they become one of my favorite apples ever. So I started to read about them and found description stated that it is very close to golden delicious but much less russet. That confused me completely. Golden Delicious I know from the store NEVER have any russet on them. They smooth and mostly bland sweet and has no aroma. The apple I have is very intense in taste, great balance of acid and sugar and has wonderful and strong aroma, that reminds me Antonovka and has russet on them. It is fine russet, you can feel it with your fingers, skin is not smooth at all.
So I have several questions.

  1. Is Golden Delicious they sell in the stores are really Golden Delicious?
  2. Is description I found for Gibson Golden correct?
  3. Could it be the apple I picked is NOT Gibson Golden?
  4. What apple could it be?

We picked it in the end of October, here are some pictures.

IMG_20171103_080949448
IMG_20171103_0809494484160Ă—2340 2.52 MB

IMG_20171103_081039745
IMG_20171103_0810397454160Ă—2340 2.53 MB

IMG_20171103_080937547
IMG_20171103_0809375474160Ă—2340 2.85 MB

IMG_20171103_080930818
IMG_20171103_0809308184160Ă—2340 2.96 MB

2 Likes
#2

There is Gibson strain of Golden Delicious, which is probably the variety
you’re referring to. Gibson Strain is totally green and doesn’t turn red at
all. So the apples in the pics are probably something else.

#3

Thanks, this is what I suspected… It would be interesting to hear what it is really is.

#4

Those apples look like the Golden Delicious I grow. Yellow/gold with some russet and some red tinge. Mine consistently taste excellent. Good sweet/tart balance, crisp and juicy. My tree is from Stark Bros and I’ve been surprised how good they are compared to the grocery store version. Of course, the ones pictured could be another variety but I wouldn’t be surprised if they are some version of original Golden Delicious, which I believe is what made Stark Bros famous.

#5

Thanks!