Eureka Canyon *

This medium-sized apple, a discovery from my California adventure, may be a bit of a local wonder, as I cannot find any reference to this variety online.

Is there more than one canyon named Eureka? The most likely candidate lies in Watsonville, California, the apple-rich country just south of Santa Cruz.

The apple has a blush that runs from streaky to a dark red over yellow. It has moderate ribbing and is oblate and slightly tapered.

What's striking about this sample is that it is much wider in one dimension than the other. From the top it’s an oval, not a circle.

Light lenticels freckle the blush.

Eureka Canyon has a wonderful sweet rich cidery aroma. Its calyx is wide open.

My Eureka’s light yellow flesh is fine-grained and sweet, breakingly crisp. It is well balanced, with a good measure of sugar and tart together. This is the sweet spot where the magic happens and interesting flavors can sometimes be found.

The tartness is not quite citric, more like table grapes perhaps. There is a little bit of grain, and something like lychee nut, against a sweet-cider background.

Part of this, my only sample, was on the way towards mealy, but the good part of this apple is very good. I could wish for more, both to describe and to enjoy.