Bob,
The duchess D’ angoulme I’m referring to are not bad pears but they are in the class of slightly course texture though have a very pleasant non grainy flavor. If to much rain happens around the time of harvest which is common in the fall here the flavor can turn from good to blan. They were nice tasting pears last year that can be seen here Here comes the 2016 apple and Pear harvest!. Keep in mind my idea of better pears are Drippin’ honey or my small unnamed yellow pear that can be seen in the same thread as above. Those pears compared with other pears will always rate fairly high. Duchess easily beat a grocery store pear any day if that’s a good comparison. Magness ripens in September typically. Duchess in my area can ripen as late as late November depending on how early spring comes.
In what way was the quality low? Bad texture/grit? Not sweet? Bad flavor?
Quality is not low or bad but not melting or buttery. Very sweet, pleasant and non grainy. They are named after the Duchess of D’Angoulme for a reason and with permission from the Duchess they were given that name.
Also, is Duchess the same as " Duchess d’Angouleme"? I looked in Pears of New York and I see 15+ pears that start with Duchess. I suppose I can compare in a few years when the grafts I made from the Duchess wood you sent me fruit alongside the Duchess d’Angouleme from ARS.
Yes they are the same pear Duchess d’Angouleme. I also grafted bronze types of Duchess d’Angouleme pear now. They are high quality for a large pear when the weather is cooperative. We have a rainy fall typically starting in September- October just as these pears are typically needing hot sunny dry days to ripen properly. At their worst they taste like a grocery store bartlett. Harrow sweet is a fall pear which like Duchess I consider positive because it extends the pear harvest. Harrow delight is summer ripening pear so.having some that ripen in every season is a bonus. Growing just duchess, harrow sweet , and Korean giant would mean you would not have any summer pears.