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Calville Blanc Apple Scionwood (Spring 2024)


The distinctively ribbed culinary apple from France. Also known as Calville Blanc d'Hiver, White Winter Calville, Rambour a Cotes Gros, Blanche de Zurich.

Calville is a slow and shy bearer with some susceptibility to scab, fireblight, and powdery mildew, but its late bloom time does protect it from frost damage. The tree is vigorous and tends to a vase-like structure with weepy branches. In cooler regions it should be planted on a site where it will receive full sun in order to properly ripen the fruit. Fruit of the best quality will not be obtained until the tree has cropped several times.

Calville Blanc is first recorded as Blanche de Zurich in 1598, and it is reported to have been grown in the garden at Versailles in the early 1600s. It is still considered the culinary apple par excellence in France, where its biting acidity and firmness are valued especially in baking tarte aux pommes. The medium-sized, squat fruit has a very distinctive appearance: its prominent lobes produce a shape that is more like a bell pepper, and the reddish dimpling on its skin give it a tendency to appear blemished even when it is not. The skin color varies according to conditions, from green to ivory, often with an orange blush, and the snow-white flesh is dense, and crisp. The apples have a tendency to drop before they are fully ripe, and uneven ripening necessitates multiple pickings.

Calville has the highest known vitamin C content of any apple. When it is first harvested, the acidity is too high to be palatable to most, but after at least a month of storage, the flavor mellows and spiced pear and pineapple notes develop. During storage the skin will also become yellow. Calville is valued for adding acid and a rich aroma to cider blends, and a few cider makers even make single-variety ciders from this apple.

The unique shape of Calville Blanc apples makes them easy to spot in Monet's Still Life with Apples and Grapes. Calville Blanc was also among the apple trees grown at Monticello by Thomas Jefferson.

Volume Pricing

Premiums are included in the following prices if applicable. These prices are for regular scion. Add $1 for clean scion.

Quantity Calville Blanc Apple Scion
1 $12.00
2-5 $7.00
6-10 $6.00
11-99 $5.00
100+ $4.00

Order Your Scions

Select clean or regular:

$12.00 ea.

This is the full retail price for orders of 1 scion. You can get these scion for as low as $4.00 each – see Volume Pricing above. More about Pricing & Grading.

27 in stock
Quantity
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Clean vs. Regular

Our clean scion is harvested from trees grown on G.16, which is extremely sensitive to viruses. These trees would not have survived if the scion contained viruses. Our clean wood has not been lab tested. Regular = may contain one of the common latent viruses; this is not usually a problem and can be used with most rootstocks.

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Calville is a slow and shy bearer with some susceptibility to scab, fireblight, and powdery mildew, but its late bloom time does protect it from frost damage. The tree is vigorous and tends to a vase-like structure with weepy branches. In cooler regions it should be planted on a site where it will receive full sun in order to properly ripen the fruit. Fruit of the best quality will not be obtained until the tree has cropped several times.

Calville Blanc is first recorded as Blanche de Zurich in 1598, and it is reported to have been grown in the garden at Versailles in the early 1600s. It is still considered the culinary apple par excellence in France, where its biting acidity and firmness are valued especially in baking tarte aux pommes. The medium-sized, squat fruit has a very distinctive appearance: its prominent lobes produce a shape that is more like a bell pepper, and the reddish dimpling on its skin give it a tendency to appear blemished even when it is not. The skin color varies according to conditions, from green to ivory, often with an orange blush, and the snow-white flesh is dense, and crisp. The apples have a tendency to drop before they are fully ripe, and uneven ripening necessitates multiple pickings.

Calville has the highest known vitamin C content of any apple. When it is first harvested, the acidity is too high to be palatable to most, but after at least a month of storage, the flavor mellows and spiced pear and pineapple notes develop. During storage the skin will also become yellow. Calville is valued for adding acid and a rich aroma to cider blends, and a few cider makers even make single-variety ciders from this apple.

The unique shape of Calville Blanc apples makes them easy to spot in Monet's Still Life with Apples and Grapes. Calville Blanc was also among the apple trees grown at Monticello by Thomas Jefferson.


The Fruit

Fruit Type

Category: Apple
Subcategory: Heirloom, Cider, Cold-Hardy, Hot-Climate

Fruit Uses & Storage

Uses: fresh eating, cider, baking
Cider classification: sharp
Storage duration: three plus months (approximate, depending on storage conditions)

Fruit Appearance

Skin color: green
Flesh color: white

Fruit Origins

Parentage: unknown
Origin: France or Germany
Introduced in: 1600
Introduced by:

The Environment

Calendar & Geography

USDA zones: 4 - 8
Chill hours: 1000
Ripening date: Oct 27 (approximate, in New York State) + 42 days after McIntosh

Diseases & Pests

Apple Scab: Susceptible
Fireblight: Susceptible
Powdery Mildew: Susceptible

Pollination

Pollination Factors

Bloom group: 3
Is it self-fertile? N
Is it fertile? Y
Ploidy: Diploid

Pollination Partners

This table shows the first few results from a full search for pollenizers of Calville Blanc Apple. Please see our Pollenizer Search to run other queries and read how the application uses various factors. Also read more about fruit tree pollination.

Tree Ships Currently in Stock
Virginia Crab Apple 2024 0
Florina Apple 2024 0
Porter's Perfection Apple 2024 0
Elstar Apple 2024 0
Rubinette Apple 2024 0
Spitzenburg Esopus Apple 2024 0
St. Edmund's Russet Apple 2024 0
Liberty Apple 2024 0
Mother Apple 2024 0
Cripps Pink Apple 2024 0
Binet Rouge Apple 2024 0

See all pollination matches for Calville Blanc Apple






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