Yep.
The old strain is the best, although a field/tree ripened Starkrimson is pretty nice eating!
There is so many types of apples and so many variations in taste it is hard to even decide on apple trees to grow. Another thing is growing vs in store is different. Honeycrisp is well known for being just as good in store as home grown. Fuji is known for being sweeter home grown than store bought I believe which is surprising because fuji is already so sweet. A Stark Bros exclusive that caught my attention this year was the Super Red Fuji tree. My first one did not seem to come out of dormancy but just ordered another. The Super Red Fuji is supposed to be resistant to some diseases and ripens late October which is when the good Fuji varieties seem to ripen. That strain could have some promise later in the market scene.
You’re absolutely right in that it doesn’t make sense to describe the changes in Red Delicious as being bred out, and a clone is a clone. Or at least, a clone is a clone most of the time.
But it’s also correct that Red Delicious’ flavor has changed. As has been touched on earlier, the answer lies in the fact that Red Delicious frequently produces mutations (sports) and with farmers selecting for certain qualities in those mutations, they did not favor flavor (due to the priorities of the market at the time). Apparently, a geneticist somewhere has found that some genes that code for the flavor in R.D. were very close to the ones on the genome that produced the redder color—so close that, when many farmers selected sports with more red, they unwittingly selected for bad flavor, because the mutations so frequently affected both characteristics together.
I have personally tasted one of the older R.D. strains, properly grown in good conditions locally and (perhaps just as important) properly harvested. I was so blown away by how GOOD this locally-grown apple tasted in comparison to many others I’d had, and I couldn’t help but agreeing with the famous judge of the 1890’s contest who declared it to be a “Delicious” apple—it WAS delicious!
I will even argue that some aspects of Red Delicious’ flavor are superior to some popular apples, even Honeycrisp, which in spite of its sweetness and acidity lacks complexity. But only when the proper strain is used and it
is properly grown.
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