Estivale apple
A very good early/mid-season apple from France, also known as Delcorf and Delbarestivale.
Developed by the Delbard nursery in France in the 1950s, this is an another attempt to improve on Golden Delicious - and a pretty successful one at that. It is very attractive in appearance, with the light yellow / green of Golden Delicious overlaid with lovely red and orange stripes. Estivale has been marketed under a number of names so you might have heard of it as Delbarestivale, Monidel, Dalili, Ambassy or Delcorf Estivale.
Estivale is an early apple variety, grown commercially on a small scale in France and England, and usually available in early to mid September. Many early apple varieties are related to Worcester Pearmain, so Estivale, with its Golden Delicious parentage, is an interesting contrast. Whilst still a sharp apple, Estivale is inherently sweeter and we think has a better balance of sweet and sharp than some of the Worcester Pearmain offspring.
The flavour is fairly typical of a modern early variety, being sweet but with a bit more acid to it than Golden Delicious, and therefore rather more refreshing. There is a hint of strawberry and even pear. The flesh is cream, and quite crisp when fresh.
Its main drawback is that it bruises quite easily, although unlike many early varieties it does not go soft within a couple of days of picking.
In short, this is a pleasant summery apple, and one of the best early apple varieties.
Also known as
- Delbard
- Delbarestivale
- Delcorf
Summary
- Species: Malus domestica
- Parentage: Golden Delicious cross
- Origin: France
- Introduced: 1950
- Developed by: Delbard
- Orange Pippin Cultivar ID: 101500
Growing
- Cropping: Good
- Flowering period: Mid season
- Flowering group: 3
- Fertility: Self-sterile
- Triploid: No
Other qualities
- RHS Award of Garden Merit 1998
Relationships to other varieties
Parents and other ancestors of this variety:
- Golden Delicious (parent)
- Jonagrimes (parent)
Offspring of this variety:
Fruit tree register
Do you have a tree of this variety in your garden or orchard? If so please register the details here and contribute to our international register of fruit trees.
The following Estivale trees have been registered - click the name to view more details of each tree.
You can also view these trees on a map.
United Kingdom
- Savvas Neophytou in CROSBY, Merseyside
- Savvas Neophytou in CROSBY, MERSEYSIDE
Latest Spring blossom records for this variety
2011 season
- 15th April 2011 - tree owned by Savvas in CROSBY, United Kingdom
Record your blossom dates in our Fruit Tree Register - more >>.
Where to buy apples
No orchards have registered as growing this variety. If you grow this and want to register please go to our Orchard Registration form.
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