peau d’ane

Peau d’Ane (Donkey Skin) is a French bittersweet cider apple, possibly from Morbihan. Cammy and I first collected and tasted fruit at the USDA collection in Geneva, NY in October 2016. We think it has potential for cider in New England.

The fruit is small (5 -5.5 cm/2”), angular, roundish, blocky, and sometimes oblique. The ground color is an opaque, bluish-green reminiscent of Fallawater with a faint, pink blush and a lot of russet dots and netting. It has a fairly large, russet cavity patch, a large calyx, and a short stubby stem.

The flesh is chewy, dry, and with a texture like a spongy russet in March. The fruit is so dry, we couldn’t press out enough juice to test the SG when we tested the few fruit that we collected in 2016. Even so we could detect bitterness and astringency with flavors of raisin, banana, pineapple and soap. It could probably be pressed as late as November.

The tree has a very-vertical form, is late to leaf out and bloom. Our scionwood came from the USDA in Geneva NY (PI 162740). Currently growing at Super Chilly Farm.