Duchess is a very late season pear. They are still on the tree now beginning to get ripe. They taste good but lack the complexed flavors some pears are known for. Duchess x Kieffer are parents for Douglas. Any of these can have a fruity what some call sprightly taste. They are very popular with many people. You will taste them soon Duchess produces pears fast , 2-3 years tyically. They are better tasting in some places than others. @alan in New York considers them very good but @mamuang growing season is about 2 weeks behind mine in Kansas and likely would rate them OK or good only but not best. Kansas is variable between the two some years they are sweet and fruity making them good and other years just OK. Duchess is so late that in most cases when the sugar does get higher they get picked on by the insects because they are some of the last fruit on the trees. The pears can be extremely large. I’m never going to rate them the very highest quality pear but rather somewhere in the middle. At one time my taste were less refined but the more pears I grow the more I know. Sweet , fruity but not complexed nor are they sandy or have any off flavors. Middle of the road for such a large pear is impressive. They are a pear I enjoy but harrow sweet, seckle, potomac , and many others are better. Largest / Best tasting pear . Like I told @mamuang even though they are named after a Duchess you may find them only good but not great. The story of this pear is here Question the History of a pear or know some history? Post it here! . Keep in mind I’ve had them when they are really good and they really can be good. "
Question the History of a pear or know some history? Post it here!
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This a great story about duchesse d angouleme pears [https://www.slowfoodusa.org/ark-item/duchesse-d-angouleme-pear ] the article has since been removed.
“The original tree was a wilding (a tree that grows by seed from a discarded core) grown in a garden near Angers, Maine-et-Loire, France. About 1808, M. Audusson, a nurseryman at Angers, got permission to propagate the pear, then calling it the Poire des Eparonnais. In 1820, he sent a basket of the fruit to the Duchesse d’Angouleme asking permission to name the pear in her honor. Permission was granted.”