Just want to share in case it’s useful to anyone in the future because as I was choosing apple trees for my small city “orchard”, I really struggled with barely any information on the taste qualities of some less common apples. One of these apples is Wynoochee Early and I managed to find only a handful reports on the taste, ranging from great to horrible. As a result, I kept anxiously waiting for the fruit to ripen, worrying if I made a mistake.
It’s a very interesting apple. It’s generally on the firmer and juicier side but nothing like, say, Honey Crisp so if you are expecting a crispy-crispy or reeeeally juicy apple, you would be disappointed. It’s not sweet either, it’s pretty tart actually but well balanced. The interesting part is that the whole combination is somehow very good and it’s very easy to eat, if it makes sense, even though I can’t really put my finger on why it’s so good. It was tested by three adults and a 3 year old with a very… sophisticated palette. Everyone loved it and most of the apple was finished by the 3 year old, who then demanded more, so I guess it’s good
As for the “early” part…I don’t know if it’s this year’s odd weather or what but the internet promised me it would ripen in the middle of August. Well, it’s almost middle of September here in PNW and I had to pull the apple from the tree pretty hard. I am honestly not sure if it was 100% ripened. Some photos:
I hope you have better luck with this apple than I did. Sounds like everyone there liked it. Glad it is a winner in your orchard.
I had a few apples off of it, such as you have had as well. I was not impressed with the quality nor quantity of apples it produced. So I took it out of my orchard. I was hoping for so much more from this apple and apple tree. From what I read about this apple is was supposed to be a wonderful apple. Just not for me where I am.
Yeah, it could just be the location. I am growing it in pretty much the same conditions where it was born - in PNW, very close to the coast. I cannot tell the productivity of a mature tree yet but at least as of now - out of 7 young apple trees I planted this year, only 2 produced apples and Wynoochee was one of them (the other being a Crabapple). It also resisted the fungal onslaught earlier this year like a champ.
I grow Wynoochee on the coast and in the Willamette Valley. It’s an excellent apple on the coast, shockingly good for an early apple. The texture is amazing and the flavor is slightly tart and honey sweet. It also makes really good pies and tarts. It keeps surprisingly well for an early apple. Major flaw is that the apples drop when ripe. In the Valley it sunburns and is not quite as good, but with afternoon shade it’s worth growing.
Oh that’s useful information, thanks! I must have picked this apple early then. I still have second apple on that tree and will keep it a bit longer to see if it gets sweeter.
It’s been almost a month and I picked my one remaining Wynoochee Early apple off the tree, I clearly picked the other one way too early. My assessment is pretty similar though - the only complaints I have is that the skin is a bit on the thick side and I kind of wish it was crispier. Other than that, it’s a very very tasty apple with a remarkable depth of flavor. It’s not really a super sweet apple which I normally would complain about because I love my apples sweet but, I don’t know, it just tastes really good with a good balance of tart and sweet. Also now that it’s ripe, it looks very pretty.
Just like the last time, our 3yo consumed everything, except the small piece I tried and requested more.
