Vintage Virginia Apples

MEDAILLE D'OR came from a seedling grown by Monsieur Goddard of Boisguillame, Rouen, France, and was awarded a gold medal in 1873 by the Societe Centrale D'Horticulture de Departement de la Seine Inferieure. Golden-yellow in color, covered with a marbling of brown russet, this cider apple often has a browner russet on the sun-exposed side. The flesh is tender and yellowish in color, and the juice is very sweet with a strong, not unpleasant, astringent aftertaste. The shape is oblate, broad at the base and often irregularly spherical. One report states it contains 18.6% sugar, which ferments to 9% alcohol, but another report indicates 238 grams of sugar giving 14 to 15 per cent alcohol. The tree is vigorous and bears its fruits in clusters. It ripens in September.