Ontario Fruit Explorers

["Biz Storms" <biz.storms@sympatico.ca>]

Talk about heaven!

Two weeks ago my husband and I visited Virginia, which included a trip to
Monticello, followed by a stop at Vintage Virginia Apples.

The garden tour at Monticello was really top notch, and the tour guide spent
extra time with me after the standard tour was completed. We were told it
was okay to walk through the orchard and sample apples on the trees. The
only apples remaining were the Yellow Newtown Pippins. We managed to reach
three or four apples that had minimal spots and/or insect involvement. The
first bite was heavenly. All my Newton Pippins lost their fruit this summer
with the wind storms raging through - so it was my first taste of this
variety. They had such a wonderful rich and fruity taste - so it's great
there are five trees in our orchard.

It was more the surreal experience of eating Thomas Jefferson's favourite
apple, whilst standing in the actual orchard they were grown in, planted at
his direction, at Monticello. Really cool. There were also peach trees with
some fruit still on, but most of everything had been removed.

Afterwards we drove over to Vintage Virginia Apples - about 15 minutes away
- and met Chuck Shelton and his son. We bought more of the Newton Pippins,
and a couple each of Pomme Grise ( wonderful and nutty, like an Ashmead's
Kernel, but not as intense ), Grimes Golden ( juicy and spicy ), Roxbury
Russets ( which were sweeter that I expected, but still a little nutty ),
and some Staymans ( really crisp and crunchy ). We also tasted a Calville
Blanc d'Hiver - again my first taste, which was a delicious, sprightly apple
and really pretty with some red freckles across the top.

The truly cool part was sampling some hard cider that Chuck had made with
Harrison apples. It was a beautiful amber colour, with a wonderful cider
taste that was a little sweet but with a great body and aftertaste. It was
actually somewhat close to the "ice cider" we'd tasted at Thanksgiving, but
not as thick as ice wine or ice cider. There was still a little fizz going
on and the alcohol content had been measured around 9 percent. It was
spectacular. My husband immediately launched into asking about the yeast he
used, timing, etc. Evidently Harrison apples were historically used as a
blend with Campfield or Graniwinkle apples. They tasted great to me as a
single variety, so it will be interesting to taste at some point in the
future when blended with something else.

The sad part was having to leave the area to return home. The 1,000 foot
long veggie garden at Monticello was impressive, even late in October, so it
would likely be breathtaking at the height of July or August with oodles of
goodies growing. It was interesting to note that the veggies were divided
into three categories, depending on what part of the plant was eaten -
roots, leaves, or "fruit". 

Now we just need to get cracking on that cider to have lots of bottles to
consume in the new year. Nothing like ice cold cider to quench your thirst!

Cheers, Bizmark.