I noticed something interesting about this variety. We had an early Hard Freeze in October of last year. Most of the apples harvested after the freeze deteriorated quickly in storage. Zuccalmaglio seemed to be totally unaffected by the Freeze thaw cycle. It kept well through Spring. I found a few in the back of the fridge this summer that were still edible. The fruit is choice for us among other very late ripening varieties. I’m thinking it may have high value in food plots. I left a good number of apples on the trees to see how it hangs through the winter and how it withstand multiple freeze thaws.
I’m wondering who else is growing it and what their experience has been with it? It’s pretty rare in the US but, I’m sure there are other people like me who occasionally order scion based purely on interesting names. Plus, it’s usually the very last apple variety listed.
They always finish well and it seems to have good disease resistance. Attractive smaller apples that look similar to Pink Lady. I had originally guessed it might from Australia because it ripens with Crrips Pink and Lady Williams.
Here is the Wikipedia translated from German :
The Grevenbroich engineer Diedrich Uhlhorn Jr. (1843–1915), not to be confused with his grandfather of the same name, the inventor Diedrich Uhlhorn (1764–1837), bred the apple in 1878 from an attempt at crossing the Pineapple Renette and the Purple Agata Apple and named this new noble variety after his father-in-law, Justice Vinzenz Jakob von Zuccalmaglio .
The fruit
The fruits of the Zuccalmaglios Renette are small to medium-sized, rounded to egg-shaped, 6–7 cm in size. Tapered on the calyx side, flattened on the stem side. Stem woody, thin and usually short. Peel greenish yellow, lemon yellow when ripened, yellow-red washed out on the sunny side. The flesh is yellowish-white, juicy, aromatic with a harmonious sugar-acid ratio. Harvest time is late, late October to early November, and its long ripening period from November to March makes it an excellent winter apple.
The tree
The growth of the tree is weak, insensitive to pests and diseases. However, satisfactory harvests can only be expected on good soil that is richly supplied with water and nutrients. The tree also needs regular pruning care. Thinning out the fruit makes sense because of the high fruit set. Otherwise the fruits will remain too small. Recommended for home gardens, but of no importance in commercial fruit production today.
