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Calville Blanc d’Hiver
type: Culinary, Cider, Dessert, Juice, Pie, Sauce
synonyms: Blanche de Zurich, Blandureau d'Auvergne, Bonnet Carrée (there is also a varietal called Bonnet Carrée ), Calville Blanc, Calville Blanche, White Calville, White Winter Calville. It is sometimes refered to as Pomme de Glace which is actually a different variety of Calville.
summary: This is the quintessential ingredient for French apple tarts. Aside from its wonderful flavour and sharpness, it holds its shape well when baked. It is also recommended as the sharp component for cider and cider vinegar. Juice made with this variety has exceptionally high levels of Vitamin C, roughly three times that of most other apple varieties. Also a good eating apple if allowed to mature adequately.
identification: A medium large to large, squat apple, five-crowned, misshapen and lumpy with distinctly angular faces. The skin is smooth, pale green to pale yellow with reddish blush on the sun side, but it turns progressively yellow in storage. Brown lenticels and some thin greyish russet spots. The stem is short, slender and set deep in an angular cavity which is lined with russet.
characteristics: The flesh is creamy white, fine-grained, juicy, sweet and aromatic. Flavour is distinctively reminiscent of bananas.
origins: Originated in Europe in the late 1500s and thought to be either French or German. It was first documented by Swiss botanist Jean Bauhin in his "Historia fontis et balnei Bollensis" (printed in 1598) as the Blanche de Zurich, but the French botanist le Lectier listed it as the "Calleville blanc d'Hiver" on page 23 of his "Catalogue" which was printed on December 20, 1628 and that version stuck. The name Calleville refers to the commune in the Normandy region of northwestern France, one of several areas across Europe where these apples were grown at the time. As far as its origins go, French pomologist André Leroy in his "Dictionnaire de Pomologie: Pommes" (printed 1873) points to the Admirable Blanche as its possible forbearer and points to Switzerland as its most likely source.
cultivation: Vigorous, upright spreading tree with a tendency to have droopy branches like a willow tree. Starts to bear fruit quite young and produces large crops annually. Prefers warmer climates and responds well when grown next to a sunny wall. Needs long, hot summers.
cold storage: This apple needs to be stored for about a month before it reaches its maximum flavour. It keeps well for up to four months.
vulnerabilities: Somewhat susceptible to scab and prone to mildew.
harvest: Ready for harvest starting in the middle of the fifth period.
notes: The Calville was grown in the gardens of France’s King Louis XIII at Versailles in 1627 and also by then-American President Thomas Jefferson at Monticello in the 1770s. Claude Monet’s 1880 painting entitled "Apples and Grapes" depicts two kinds of apples; those on the left are Calvilles.
juice character: Low tannins, acidic.
juice_classification: Sharp
pollination group: D
pollination peak: 15
ploidism: Diploid. Self sterile.
cold storage weeks: 16
harvest period: 5
hardiness: 5
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