Burgundy *

True to its name, this handsome apple has a very deep purplish-red blush, accented with light lenticels. The apple itself is a large medium of classical shape with just a suggestion of ribbing.

The blush on my sample is its full deep saturated color over half of the apple, and the rest is light and streaky. The only unblushed skin, in the stem well, is a light and vibrant green.

The flesh is creamy and coarse-grained, with an unusual rose tinge that extends as much as a third of an inch into the fruit. There's a crunch, but a soft one. The thick peel persists after the flesh is gone, and is a little bitter.

The flavor is tart, but balanced, with a sharp acid note and a little pear and something like a Golden Delicious and (maybe) ginger. Burgundy's flavors are unusual and sometimes at odds.

It is possible that this apple has been off the tree a little longer than is best. I don't know when it was picked.

On this apple I noticed for the first time a pronounced sweetness and intensity of flavor around the calyx that one commenter here finds in many apples.

Burgundy, yet another variety from the Geneva, New York, State Agriculture Experiment Station, is a cross of that institution's famous Macoun with Antonovka.