Cripps Red (Sundowner, Joya) *

He's a sweet guy, with some interesting flavors.

Red's pretty crimson blush, slightly streaky over yellow green, is accented by striking large light lenticels, widely spaced. The peel is very glossy and almost certainly waxed.

On the shade side the blush is but a streaky wash that gives the unblushed peel a dull brown cast. My apple has been knocked about a little bit and bears dents and scrapes from transport or storage or both.

Cripps Red (or Sundowner, or Joya, two trademarked names) bears a sweet aroma with a hint of spice. His calyx is open.

Red's flesh is medium-fine-grained and light yellow. The texture is quite good, and reasonably juicy, crisp enough to break off in pleasing chunks. Not, however, a hard apple.

The sugar level is almost too much, redeemed by a little balancing tartness. There is cane sugar, a hint of berries, and spice.

Cripps Red shares parents (Golden Delicious x Lady Williams) with Cripps Pink (aka Pink Lady), a nonetheless palpably different apple. Orange Pippin prefers Red to Pink, but Red's sweet stuff is a bit much for me.

I have never heard of this apple for sale in North America, and found mine in France.

French PLU stickers do not always specify country of origin, but I wonder if mine is from the spring harvest in Australia or South Africa. The texture struck me as awfully good for a northern-hemisphere crop this time of year.

On the other hand Red is harvested into December, and there were all those scrapes and dents, so I would not be shocked if I were wrong.

The eponymous John Cripps is an Australian horticulturalist.