Appearance

• Size and Shape: Medium-sized, round-conical shape, sometimes slightly lopsided with light ribbing. If thinned annually, fruits can grow larger.
• Skin: Greenish-yellow base colour overlaid with a purplish-red or orange-red blush and broken stripes. Some russeting, often emanating from the stem well, with light-coloured lenticels. The skin is smooth but can become slightly greasy when fully mature.
• Eye and Stem: The eye is medium-sized, open, with long, pointed petals in a moderately deep and wide basin. The stem is short, slender, and set in a russeted, moderately deep, narrow cavity.

Flesh and Flavour

• Flesh: Creamy yellow, crisp, firm, and juicy with a fine-grained texture.
• Flavour: Intensely rich and aromatic, with a strong Cox's Orange Pippin-like flavour, but sharper, especially in the first eight weeks after harvest. It starts sweet yet tangy, with notes of cane sugar, cider, and a hint of citrus, sometimes with a slight peppery bitterness. The sharpness mellows in storage, becoming sweeter while retaining good flavour.
• Texture: Crisp and crunchy initially, softening slightly in storage but remaining enjoyable.

Uses

• Primarily a dessert apple for fresh eating, best enjoyed around mid-winter (June–July) after several weeks of storage to allow flavours to mellow.
• Suitable for baking (e.g., apple pies) and cider-making due to its balanced sugar-acid profile.
• Storage tip: Keep in polythene bags to prevent shrivelling, as the variety is prone to this.

Harvest and Storage

• Harvest: Late March to mid-April, typically around the third week of April in New Zealand and similar Southern Hemisphere climates. Ripens about the same time as Fuji in these regions.
• Storage: Keeps well for up to 3–4 months, with peak flavour from June to August or even September if stored properly. Flavour improves after a few weeks in storage, though it may lose some aromatic intensity over time.

Tree Characteristics

• Growth: Vigorous but naturally small, with long, slender, droopy branches prone to wind damage. Fruit spurs are brittle, requiring careful handling.
• Cropping: Heavy cropper but tends toward biennial bearing (alternating heavy and light crop years). Thinning small apples in early December is recommended to ensure regular cropping and larger fruit.
• Pollination: Self-sterile, in pollination group 4 (mid to late bloom, around early November in New Zealand). Requires a pollinator like Gala, Fuji, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, or others in groups 3, 4, or 5.
• Disease Resistance: Resistant to powdery mildew, scab, and bitter pit, but very susceptible to fireblight. Less resistant to leaf scab and canker than some relatives like Winston.
• Hardiness: Suitable for climates with 800–1,000 chilling hours. Frost-resistant blossoms make it hardy in cooler Southern Hemisphere regions.

Growing Considerations

• Climate: Performs well in drier climates (e.g., parts of New Zealand’s South Island) and warm summer regions, with better flavour and less cracking than Cox's Orange Pippin in such conditions. Not ideal for high-rainfall areas due to lower canker resistance.
• Pruning: Requires annual pruning to manage vigorous growth and thin branches, which are susceptible to wind damage. Summer pruning (January–February) is recommended to maintain size (2.5–5 metres mature height).
• Thinning: Essential to prevent biennial bearing and ensure larger fruit. Early, heavy thinning in December is advised.

Notable Traits

• A connoisseur’s apple, often praised for its rich flavour, though some find it less consistent than Cox's Orange Pippin due to occasional cracking or uneven ripening.
• Its Cox-like qualities make it a strong alternative for growers in warmer Southern Hemisphere climates, where it outperforms its parent.
• Described as an underutilised apple with exceptional flavour potential in Southern Hemisphere markets.

This apple is a gem for those who appreciate a sharp, aromatic dessert apple with excellent storage potential, though it requires attentive care to maximise its potential.