Graniwinkle is a vigorous, upright, and very productive tree. The tree is only slightly susceptible to scab and reliably annual. The fruit is splashed and striped red over a yellow background, with a yellowish flesh that is very sweet. It does not store well.

Although it is pleasant enough to eat, this apple has traditionally been used exclusively for cider blending. It yields a clean, crisp cider with notes of melon and berry. In 1817, William Coxe described Graniwinkle: "The flesh is dead sweet, very rich, of a yellow colour. The cider produced from this apple, resembles a sirup in its taste and consistence–it originated in one of the Eastern counties of New Jersey, and obtained its name from a farmer who first cultivated it: it is usually mixed with the Harrison for making cider of a superior quality."  Harrison, Campfield, Graniwinkle, and Poveshon were the four apples essential to Newark cider production before prohibition" (From WSU: Tannin (percent tannic acid): 0.08; Acid (percent malic acid): 0.30; pH: 3.90; SG: 1.045; ^oBrix 11.0.)