Oh dear. At least it is not yet another inbred club apple.

Checked local grocery stores here and no one has them yet.

Here is a great article that effects Modern inbred club apple types.

Notice many of the allegedly disease free types are not quite what they are billed as.

Jafar buddy,

     ...Not to bring up a point of former contention...     but eventually my wife brought home a few 'Cosmic Crisp' apples from the grocery store.  It was my duty to actually try one, since I hadn't purchased any before and hadn't intended to.  I have to admit that it was very tasty and quite sweet.  A good apple.  At the same time, I was also thinking back to the kinds of exquisite older apples that I was lucky enough to sample at the HOS autumn fruit tastings.  There were some that had such a nice balance between sweet and tart, with an additional complexity of flavor that made them memorable.  I've come to think that so many of the newer "Club Apples" are just designed to be sweeter.  If that's the case, we might as well just import all the "sweet" apples that the Japanese have been working toward over the decades.

     Where are the amateur apple breeders who pick their two favorites and cross them to see what arises?  Where are all the old classics?  If we rely on "the professionals" who just want to make the apples "bigger, more beautiful, and sweeter", then what happens to all that exquisite taste diversity that excites the palate?

     Jafar:  Of course take this all in jest. I'm just doggedly persnickety and opinionated.  I rub people the wrong way.  I know....  By all means, may ye all eat your apples in good health!  (--"An apple a day"--)....

Reinettes.

Reinettes said 

   Where are the amateur apple breeders who pick their two favorites and cross them to see what arises?  Where are all the old classics? 

Right here in this forum, I would guess :-).  I am up to 62 apple varieties, 15 of which are seedlings from store apples. I'm about 1.5 years from retirement. I plan to start intentional crosses once I'm retired.  No particular goal in mind, just for fun.  But I am pretty much out of space, so I have started cramming everything together.

I have found https://scion-exchange.com/ to be helpful in finding scion trading partners.  This year I have traded with people as far away as Pennsylvania and as close as my work office (whom I found through the site!).

Yeap. So far I have about 60 Georgia origin or Southern classic trees grafted. Have about 70 more to do and the rest will be stooled. 

So far Wallace Howard has been the star of the show. Very vigorous! Allegedly a large tart apple that stores very well. But most of the Georgia Apples I have were superb keepers except Tanyard's Seedling and Cranberry of North Georgia.

I have Norfolk Beefing, Blairmont, Golden Harvey, Rouville, Wickson, Husk Sweet and Hudson's Golden Gem to mix and match with them for fun.

Next year I hope to complete most of my Georgia origin list save Shockley Cantrell and Grizzle. And add a handful of big cooker apples. And some low chill wonders and selections for rootstock breeding.

Would it be awful to have a good stand alone home grower friendly root stock that also makes a tasty apple on it's own???

Locality matters I guess. Eastern Europe where the local apples are inter-bred together tend to be susceptible to the very same successful diseases. I chose "Pionier" of Romania because it was originally a scab free type that fell out of favor. I'm hoping the pretty purple apple can deal with our local brew of disease pressure on G.214.