Red Winter Calville
Apple
Red Winter Calville
Origin / History
An old variety, known in France since 1600 and called by Bunyard one of the oldest varieties (Verger, IV., 76). Downing calls it "An old French variety." Elliott lists it as foreign. Coxe described it in 1817 under the name "Red Calville." He wrote that it "is much celebrated for its excellence by the French writers, but does not appear in this country to merit so high a reputation as it has acquired in France." He counted bearing abundantly and keeping well as its greatest merits. Downing later called it "quite superseded," and Bunyard judged it "Hardly worthy of cultivation nowadays."
Tree
Growth compact; very fertile (Bunyard), and an abundant bearer (Coxe). Leaf large, pale, upfolded, undulating, variable, finely to coarsely serrate (Bunyard).
Fruit
Size: Medium, about middling; Elliott alone calls it above medium. Bunyard gives 2¾ by 2¾.
Form: Round to roundish, conical, ribbed, irregular, flattened at the stalk (Coxe). Elliott calls it roundish oblong.
Stem: Coxe calls it short and thick; Bunyard calls it long and thin.
Cavity: Very deep (Bunyard).
Calyx: Eye usually closed (Bunyard).
Basin: Deep and wide (Bunyard).
Skin: Smooth. Greenish-yellow ground almost covered with a dark crimson flush (Bunyard); pale red, dark red in the sun. Coxe calls the color dark, covered with a white down, "which, when rubbed off, leaves a clear and almost black red."
Dots: Not described in source.
Flesh and flavor: Flesh white, with occasional red touches (Bunyard); juicy, tender, subacid. Downing calls it mild subacid and Coxe "sprightly, and juicy, but not rich," while Bunyard calls the flesh crisp. Quality "poor" (Elliott, Downing).
Core and seeds: Not described in source.
Season
November to March. Elliott and Downing give November to February, and Bunyard December to March. Coxe says it ripens in November and "keeps well through the Winter," and counts keeping well among its greatest merits.
Uses
Culinary (Bunyard).
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 4 period pomological works
- Coxe, A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees (1817) — listed as Red Calville
- Downing, Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)
- Bunyard, A Handbook of Hardy Fruits (1920) — listed as CALVILLE ROUGE D'HIVER
- Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865) — listed as Red Calville
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 11 catalogs (1884–1900) from California, England
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1884 — listed as Calville Rouge
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1888 — listed as Calville Rouge d'Hiver
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1889 — listed as Calville Rouge d'Hiver
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1890 — listed as Calville Rouge d'Hiver
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1891 — listed as Calville Rouge d'Hiver
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1894 — listed as Calville Rouge d'Hiver
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1895 — listed as Calville Rouge d'Hiver
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1897 — listed as Calville Rouge d'Hiver
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1900 — listed as Calville Rouge
- Central Experimental Farm , Dominion Department of Agriculture, Agassiz, British Columbia (under test; Bulletin No. 3, Second Series) — 1900 — listed as Calville Rouge
- Central Experimental Farm , Dominion Department of Agriculture, Agassiz, British Columbia (under test; Bulletin No. 3, Second Series) — 1900 — listed as Calville Red Winter
View original book sources (4)
— William Coxe, A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees (1817)NO. 62. RED CALVILLE.
The size of this apple is about middling; the form rather round, flattened at the stalk—the stem short and thick; the skin smooth; the colour dark, covered with a white down, which, when rubbed off, leaves a clear and almost black red: the flesh white, sprightly, and juicy, but not rich—it ripens in November, and keeps well through the Winter.
This apple is much celebrated for its excellence by the French writers, but does not appear in this country to merit so high a reputation as it has acquired in France; its greatest merits are those of bearing abundantly, and keeping well.
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)Red Calville. Red Winter Calville, | Calville Rouge, Calville Rouge d'Hiver, | Spice, of some, West. Foreign. Above medium, roundish oblong, pale red, dark red in sun ; flesh, tender, poor. November, February.
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Red Winter Calville.
Calville Royale d'Hiver. Calville Rouge d'Hiver. Calville Rouge Normande. Calville Rouge d'Anjou. Calville Rouge. Sanguinole. Caillot Rosat. Red Calville. Calville vraie des Allemands. Cushman's Black ?
An old French variety, quite superseded.
Fruit medium, roundish conic, ribbed, pale and dark red. Flesh tender, mild subacid. Poor. November to February.
— E.A. Bunyard, A Handbook of Hardy Fruits (1920)CALVILLE ROUGE D'HIVER. Verger, IV., 76. F., Calville Rouge; G., Roter Winter Calville. (Passe Pomme d'Hiver.) Culinary, December to March, medium, 2¾ by 2¾, round, conical, irregular. Colour, greenish-yellow, almost covered with dark crimson flush. Flesh, crisp, white with occasional red touches, juicy, sub-acid. Leaf, large, pale, upfolded, undulating, variable, finely to coarsely serrate. Eye, usually closed in a deep and wide basin. Stem, long and thin in a very deep cavity. Growth, compact; very fertile. Origin, one of the oldest varieties. Known in France, since 1600. Hardly worthy of cultivation nowadays.