Porter’s Perfection

An English (Somerset, 1907) “bittersharp” cider apple.  Most of the traditional English and French cider apples have been ravaged by diseases in the U.S., but  Porter’s Perfection seems to be an exception.  The soon-to-be-famous fruit farmer/explorer Eliza Greenman brought us Porter’s wood from Virginia, where she says it’s thriving.  And so it is here, too…so far.  We have yet to fruit it, but the trees are very healthy and vigorous—no rust, no scab, no fire blight.

The small-medium red fruits often fuse into doublets or triplets.  This high-tannin, high-acid apple is for blending with sweeter apples to make a full-bodied hard cider.