2014 Fruit Tasting Report

The First Name in Fruit TreesThe primary objective for the Dave Wilson Nursery fruit tastings and the fruit tasting report is to provide retail nurs-ery personnel with knowledge of, and experience with, tree-ripe fruit, that they might encourage the sale and planting of the consistently best tasting fruit varieties. Dave Wilson Nursery also uses the results of the tastings as a systematic means of evaluating new varieties and re-evaluating cur-rent selections for the home garden inventory. In the past 22 years Dave Wilson Nursery has conducted 53 formal fruit tastings, featuring 1,794 variety samples, each variety sample being evaluated by an average of 30 tasters. Since

1994 we have compiled over 43,000 individual variety ratings. All of these tastings have been conducted “in the blind” with the tasters not knowing the variety names until after the evaluation. The samples for each tasting are se-lected based on their proximity to peak maturity at the date of the tasting. Prior to the year 2000 most of the tasters had been retail nursery owners and their employees; since then, however the panel has included signifi cant contributions from media personnel (radio personalities, garden writers, ABC World News Tonight television) and members of the California Rare Fruit Growers.

2013 & 2014 Fruit Tastings The formal fruit tastings at Dave Wilson Nursery in 2013and 2014 were highlighted by top scores for several long-time favorite varieties, including Dapple Dandy Pluot® and Arctic Supreme White Peach. Overall high score honors went to Honey Punch Pluot®, a commercial favorite not yet released to the retail nursery trade. See inside for each year’s top ten list.

New in this edition of the Fruit Tasting Report is the list shown on page 2, Consistently High-Scoring Fruit Va-rieties. These are the varieties that have achieved Overall Scores of 6.0 or better in a majority of years tested, ranked

by average Overall Score for the 6.0+ years. Not surprising-ly, Flavor King Pluot® tops the list, achieving overall scores of 6.9 to 8.1 in 8 of the 9 years tested, its average overall score being 7.5 for those eight years. At 4.3, Flavor King also has the highest average fl avor score on the Consistently High Scoring list. By one measure, the all-time most consis-tently appealing fruit of the DWN tastings is Dapple Dandy Pluot®, havingachieved Overall scores of 6.0 or better in all 12 of the years tested. Flavor Grenade Pluot® has the next-longest perfect record of 6.0’s or better: 8 for 8.

Flavor King Pluot® Arctic Jay NectarineFlavortop Nectarine Snow Beauty Peach

Apples7.2 Red Fuji 11-16-017.0 Spitzenburg 11-20-986.8 Pink Lady 10-23-046.8 Honeycrisp 11-17-006.7 Empire apple 09-13-966.7 Yellow Newton Pippin 11-20-986.7 Cameo 11-09-026.6 Gala 08-16-966.6 Ashmead’s Kernel 11-19-996.6 Sundowner 11-16-016.5 Golden Russet 11-20-98

Apricots/Aprium®

7.0 Blenheim 06-21-036.9 Canadian White Blenheim 7-5-966.7 Flavor Delight Aprium® 6-6-976.7 Cot-N-Candy Aprium® 6-21-036.4 Harcot 6-8-076.2 Tomcot 6-8-076.2 Early Autumn 8-18-016.1 Brittany Gold 7-18-086.0 Autumn Glow 8-25-006.0 Flora Gold 6-6-97

Cherries7.7 Van 6-21-967.5 Craig’s Crimson 6-18-99 7.3 Royal Rainier 6-16-017.2 Brooks 6-10-067.2 Bing 6-10-066.9 Utah Giant 6-18-996.5 Bing 6-21-966.5 Rainier 6-6-97

Blueberries6.8 Southmoon 6-8-07 6.5 Legacy 6-8-07 6.5 Bluecrop 6-8-07 6.4 Star 6-8-07 6.4 Reveille 6-6-09

Figs7.1 Panache 9-9-116.4 Black Jack 8-16-136.4 Janice Seed-less Kadota 9-9-116.4 Black Mission 9-9-116.3 Kadota 8-25-956.3 Brown Turkey 9-13-966.2 Desert King 8-8-96 6.1 Celestial 8-30-965.9 Kadota 8-30-96

Nectarines7.8 Flavortop 8-6-99 7.5 Liz’s Late 8-25-957.4 August Glo 9-9-117.2 Harko 7-9-99 7.1 Fantasia 8-5-94 7.1 Juneglo 7-13-02 7.0 Double Delight 7-13-936.8 Honey Kist 7-13-02 6.8 Independence 7-22-94 6.8 Late Legrand 8-8-97 6.8 Zee Glo 8-8-976.7 Mericrest 8-6-99

White Nectarines8.2 Arctic Jay 7-21-01 7.9 Snow Queen 7-13-02 7.8 Arctic Sweet 6-30-00 7.7 Arctic Star 6-30-00 7.5 Heavenly White 7-28-95 7.3 Arctic Glo 6-30-00 7.2 Arctic Blaze 8-21-98 7.2 Arctic Rose 8-6-99

Peaches7.5 Harken 6-30-00 7.4 O’Henry 8-25-95 7.3 Loring 7-13-93 7.2 Fortyniner 8-9-087.2 Compact Flavorette 7-22-94 7.1 Eva’s Pride 6-21-037.0 Suncrest 8-3-12 7.0 Gold Dust 6-12-04 7.0 June Pride 7-13-02 7.0 Kaweah 9-9-116.8 June Gold 6-16-01 6.8 Veteran 7-28-95 6.8 Red Baron 8-6-996.8 Bonita 8-25-00 6.8 Flordaking 6-8-076.8 Halehaven 8-3-126.7 Double Jewel 6-30-00 6.7 Mid Pride 7-22-946.7 Zee Diamond 6-18-996.5 Tra-Zee 8-16-13

White Peaches7.9 Snow Beauty 7-15-947.9 Indian Free 9-13-96 7.5 Arctic Supreme 8-5-94 7.2 Giant Babcock 8-9-08 7.1 Donut (Stark Saturn) 7-21-01 7.0 Snow Giant 9-3-056.8 Sugar May 6-21-036.5 Polly 8-21-98 6.5 Snow King 9-3-056.4 Strawberry Free 7-21-01

Pears6.5 Seckel 10-23-045.8 Harrow Delight 8-12-065.9 Red D’anjou 11-16-015.7 Comice 11-9-02

Asian Pears7.1 Hosui 8-11-95 6.7 Kikusui 8-16-96 6.4 20th Century 8-25-95 6.4 Seigyoku 8-13-05

Plums7.2 Weeping Santa Rosa 7-15-94 7.1 Stanwick 8-18-01 7.1 Emerald Beaut 8-25-95 7.0 Catalina 8-09-08 7.0 Laroda 8-30-966.7 Beauty 6-30-00 6.6 Friar 8-30-966.5 Superior 9-9-11 6.5 Burgundy 7-17-97

Pluots®

8.1 Flavor King 8-25-95 7.9 Dapple Dandy 8-30-96 7.7 Flavor Supreme 7-15-947.5 Emerald Drop 8-13-057.1 Honey Punch 8-8-14 7.1 Flavor Grenade 9-4-04 7.0 Flavor Queen 8-21-987.0 Flavor Finale 8-29-096.9 Splash 7-9-99

Top Overall Scores by Fruit TypeConsistently High-Scoring Varieties

Note: Bold entries are new to this list since the 2012 Fruit Tasting Report.

VARIETY #YEARS TESTED

ACIDAVERAGE

SUGARAVERAGE

FLAVORAVERAGE

#YEARS OVERALL

SCORE 6.0+

AVERAGEOVERALL

SCORE FOR 6.0+ YEARS

HIGHEST OVERALL

SCORE

HIGH SCORE TASTE DATE

7.57.47.27.27.07.07.07.06.96.86.86.86.86.86.76.76.76.76.76.76.66.66.66.66.66.56.56.56.56.56.56.56.56.46.46.46.46.46.36.36.36.26.26.26.26.26.16.1

3.23.13.12.73.22.93.03.43.03.22.83.03.22.93.33.12.93.43.12.82.63.33.12.83.13.43.03.13.33.42.72.92.63.03.23.62.32.92.83.22.52.53.52.73.63.13.73.4

3.73.83.63.83.53.73.63.53.73.43.53.43.63.43.53.53.63.33.43.63.43.43.23.63.53.23.33.23.43.43.53.53.73.43.43.13.53.53.83.13.53.43.23.43.23.32.83.2

4.34.24.14.24.24.04.14.14.04.04.04.04.13.83.83.94.04.13.93.83.73.93.93.83.93.83.94.03.83.83.83.83.83.83.83.83.73.93.83.63.73.63.73.83.83.73.83.9

8.17.87.98.27.77.37.57.37.57.97.57.27.57.17.47.07.16.87.47.16.97.16.87.26.87.06.96.87.16.87.26.87.26.76.76.66.76.86.56.56.86.46.46.56.56.46.36.2

Flavor King Pluot®

Flavortop NectarineSnow Queen White NectarineArctic Jay White NectarineFlavor Supreme Pluot®

Royal Rainier CherryArctic Supreme White PeachArctic Glo White NectarineEmerald Drop Pluot®

Dapple Dandy Pluot®

Craig’s Crimson CherryFortyniner PeachHeavenly White NectarineEva’s Pride PeachAugust Glo NectarineKaweah PeachFlavor Grenade Pluot®

Pink Lady AppleO’Henry PeachHosui Asian PearUtah Giant CherryFantasia NectarineSouthmoon BlueberrySpice Zee Nectaplum®

Splash Pluot®

Flavor Finale Pluot®

Reveille BlueberryHoney Crisp AppleEmerald Beaut PlumZee Glo NectarineRed Fuji AppleLate LeGrand NectarineArctic Rose White NectarineDouble Jewel PeachMericrest NectarineFlamekist NectarineKikusui Asian PearBonita PeachPolly White PeachRainier CherryVeteran PeachSeigyoku Asian PearZee Grand NectarineFuji AppleSuperior PlumBraeburn AppleSierra Beauty AppleTropic Snow White Peach

9541194771012847673866104855113447763941044741075347454

83310736671273544386483643734377638373343644336333

8/25/958/6/997/13/028/6/997/15/946/16/018/5/946/30/008/13/058/30/966/18/998/9/087/28/956/21/039/9/119/9/119/4/0410/23/048/25/958/11/956/18/998/5/946/8/078/9/088/6/998/29/096/10/0611/17/008/25/958/8/9711/16/018/8/978/6/996/30/008/6/999/6/038/16/968/25/008/21/996/6/977/28/958/13/056/30/0011/9/029/9/1111/20/9811/20/986/15/02

2014 acid sugar fl avor overallHoney Punch Pluot® (Z) 3.1 3.6 4.1 7.1Arctic Supreme White Peach (Z) 2.9 3.7 4.3 7.1Zee Glo Nectarine (Z) 3.3 3.45 4.0 6.8Fortyniner Peach 3.1 3.2 3.8 6.3Giant Babcock White Peach 3.3 3.4 3.6 6.2Dapple Dandy Pluot® (Z) 3.3 3.1 3.6 6.2Desert King Fig 2.5 3.3 3.6 6.2Peters Honey Fig 2.2 3.5 3.7 6.1Bonita White Peach 2.9 3.1 3.4 5.8Excel Fig 2.4 3.4 3.6 5.8

2012 acid sugar fl avor overallHalehaven Peach 2.6 3.7 3.9 6.8Arctic Queen Nectarine (Z) 2.8 3.4 3.7 6.5Spice Zee Nectaplum (Z) 2.6 3.7 3.7 6.4Geo Pride Pluot (Z) 3.0 3.4 3.7 6.4Arctic Jay Nectarine (Z) 2.6 3.6 3.5 6.3Sugar Giant Nectarine (Z) 2.3 3.5 3.5 6.2Veteran Peach 2.4 3.4 3.6 6.1Z-Lady (Z) 3.2 2.9 3.5 5.9Panamint Nectarine 2.9 3.2 3.3 5.7Catalina Plum 2.7 3.1 3.3 5.7

2010 acid sugar fl avor overallSnow Beauty White Peach (Z) 2.4 3.8 4.0 6.7Halehaven Peach 2.5 3.6 4.0 6.6Veteran Peach 2.7 3.7 3.7 6.3Tri-Lite Peach x Plum (Z) 2.6 3.5 3.5 6.2Arctic Rose White Nectarine (Z) 2.8 3.9 3.7 6.2Loring Peach 2.8 3.6 3.6 6.1Saturn Peach 3.0 3.5 3.9 6.1Suncrest Peach 2.8 3.4 3.5 6.0July Elberta Peach 2.7 3.7 3.7 5.9

2008 acid sugar fl avor overallForty Niner peach 3.0 3.8 4.5 7.2Giant Babcock peach 2.3 3.9 4.3 7.2Spice Zee NectaPlum® (Z) 3.0 3.7 4.0 7.2Catalina plum 3.0 3.9 4.0 7.0Flavortop nectarine 3.3 3.5 3.7 6.9Arctic Sweet nectarine (Z) 2.3 3.9 4.0 6.8Fantasia nectarine 3.5 3.4 3.9 6.6Emerald Drop Pluot® (Z) 2.9 3.6 4.1 6.6Heavenly White nectarine (Z) 3.4 3.6 4.1 6.5

2006 acid sugar fl avor overallArctic Jay white nectarine (Z) 2.9 3.9 4.5 7.6Brooks cherry 2.8 3.4 4.1 7.2Bing cherry 3.1 3.4 4.1 7.2Harko nectarine 3.0 3.7 4.0 7.0Reveille blueberry 3.1 3.2 4.1 6.9Arctic Supreme white peach (Z) 3.0 3.7 4.0 6.9Halehaven peach 2.9 3.7 4.1 6.7Mid Pride peach (Z) 3.2 3.5 3.9 6.6Honey Kist nectarine (Z) 2.5 3.6 3.8 6.6Southmoon blueberry 3.1 3.1 3.9 6.5

2013 acid sugar fl avor overallDapple Dandy Pluot® (Z) 3.0 3.45 4.0 7.0Hosui Asian Pear 2.2 3.6 3.9 6.6Flavor Grenade Pluot® (Z) 2.9 3.5 3.8 6.6Flavor Queen Pluot® (Z) 2.8 3.6 3.8 6.6Tra Zee Peach (Z) 2.9 3.3 3.7 6.5Black Jack Fig 2.1 3.7 3.7 6.5Superior Plum 3.7 3.1 3.7 6.1Zee Glo Nectarine (Z) 3.4 3.2 3.4 6.1Snow King White Peach (Z) 2.4 3.4 3.5 6.0Sauzee Lady Flat White Peach (Z) 2.2 3.3 3.4 6.0

2011 acid sugar fl avor overallAugust Glo Nectarine (Z) 3.1 3.8 4.1 7.4 Flavor King Pluot (Z) 3.3 3.5 4.3 7.2 Panache Fig 2.2 3.6 4.1 7.1 Kaweah Peach (Z) 3.2 3.4 4.0 7.0 Geo Pride Pluot (Z) 2.9 3.7 3.9 6.9 Dapple Dandy Pluot (Z) 3.2 3.4 4.0 6.9 Flavor Grenade Pluot (Z) 3.2 3.5 3.8 6.8 Superior Plum 3.3 3.3 3.8 6.5 O’Henry Peach 3.4 3.1 3.8 6.5Hosui Asian Pear 2.3 3.4 3.7 6.5 2009 acid sugar fl avor overallFlavor King Pluot® (Z) 3.0 3.7 4.2 7.1Flavor Finale Pluot® (Z) 3.2 3.5 4.2 7.0Flavor Queen Pluot® (Z) 2.7 3.5 4.0 6.8Flavor Grenade Pluot® (Z) 2.6 3.7 4.1 6.7Southmoon Blueberry 3.2 3.1 4.0 6.7Emerald Beaut Plum (Z) 3.4 3.6 4.0 6.6Craig’s Crimson Cherry (Z) 2.9 3.3 3.9 6.6Reveille Blueberry 2.8 3.3 3.8 6.4Rainer Cherry 2.9 3.2 3.6 6.4

2007 acid sugar fl avor overallRoyal Rainer Cherry (Z) 2.8 3.6 3.9 6.9Southmoon Blueberry 3.3 3.2 4.1 6.8Flordaking Peach 2.8 3.7 4.0 6.8Legacy Blueberry 3.1 3.1 3.8 6.5Bluecrop Blueberry 3.2 3.3 3.7 6.5Craig’s Crimson Cherry (Z) 2.8 3.2 3.8 6.3Van Cherry 3.4 3.2 3.8 6.3Harcot Apricot 2.9 3.4 3.6 6.3Desert Gold peach 2.9 3.3 3.9 6.3

2005 acid sugar fl avor overallFlavor King Pluot® (Z) 3.2 3.9 4.5 7.6Emerald Drop Pluot® (Z) 3.0 3.8 4.4 7.5Flavor Supreme Pluot® (Z) 3.3 3.7 4.3 7.4Snow Giant white peach (Z) 2.6 3.8 4.4 7.0Dapple Dandy Pluot® (Z) 3.0 3.5 4.0 7.0Hosui Asian pear 2.3 3.5 3.8 6.9Arctic Queen white nectarine (Z) 2.6 3.7 3.9 6.8Double Delight nectarine (Z) 3.2 3.6 3.8 6.8Emerald Beaut plum (Z) 3.3 3.5 4.1 6.8Splash Pluot® (Z) 3.3 3.5 3.8 6.6

2004 acid sugar fl avor overallDapple Dandy Pluot® (Z) 3.0 3.8 4.4 7.1Flavor Grenade Pluot® (Z) 2.8 3.7 4.1 7.1Gold Dust peach 2.8 3.8 4.2 7.1Flavor King Pluot® (Z) 3.0 3.9 4.0 6.9Pink Lady apple 3.5 3.4 4.2 6.8Flavor Finale Pluot® (Z) 3.3 3.6 3.9 6.7Craig’s Crimson cherry (Z) 3.1 3.5 3.9 6.7Cot-N-Candy Aprium® (Z) 2.8 3.7 3.9 6.6Honeycrisp apple 3.0 3.4 4.0 6.6

2002 acid sugar fl avor overallSnow Queen nectarine (Z) 3.1 3.9 4.5 7.9Arctic Glo nectarine (Z) 3.5 3.5 4.0 7.2Juneglo nectarine (Z) 3.1 3.4 3.9 7.1Arctic Jay white nectarine (Z) 2.5 4.1 4.2 7.1June Pride Peach (Z) 3.2 3.4 4.0 7.0Eva’s Pride peach (Z) 2.7 3.5 4.0 6.9Royal Rainier cherry (Z) 2.8 3.7 4.0 6.8Honey Kist nectarine (Z) 2.6 3.8 4.2 6.8Suncrest peach 2.6 3.7 4.0 6.7Pink Lady apple 3.0 3.4 4.0 6.6

2000 acid sugar fl avor overallFlavor King Pluot® (Z) 3.1 3.8 4.9 7.9Arctic Sweet white nectarine (Z) 2.5 3.9 4.4 7.8Arctic Star white nectarine (Z) 2.7 3.8 4.4 7.7Harken peach 2.8 3.7 4.2 7.5Arctic Glo white nectarine (Z) 3.2 3.7 4.1 7.3Eva’s Pride peach (Z) 3.0 3.4 3.8 7.0

1998 acid sugar fl avor overallArctic Jay white nectarine (Z) 2.6 4.1 4.6 7.5Arctic Blaze white nectarine (Z) 2.3 3.9 4.0 7.2Flavor Queen Pluot® (Z) 2.4 3.7 4.0 7.0Spitzenburg apple 3.3 3.5 4.2 7.0Arctic Supreme white peach (Z) 2.6 3.7 4.0 6.9Fortyniner peach 2.8 3.2 3.7 6.9

1996 acid sugar fl avor overallDapple Dandy Pluot® (Z) 3.2 3.9 4.5 7.9Indian Free white peach 3.2 3.8 4.3 7.9Van cherry 3.2 3.9 4.5 7.7Snow Queen white nectarine 3.1 3.8 4.4 7.5Flavor King Pluot® (Z) 3.5 3.8 4.2 7.4Laroda plum 3.5 3.4 4.0 7.0

1994 acid sugar fl avor overallSnow Beauty peach 2.4 4.1 4.8 7.9Flavor Supreme Pluot® (Z) 3.3 3.7 4.5 7.7Arctic Supreme white peach (Z) 3.5 3.5 4.3 7.5Arctic Glo white nectarine (Z) 3.4 3.7 4.3 7.2Weeping Santa Rosa plum 3.3 3.9 4.0 7.2Fantasia nectarine 3.6 3.6 4.1 7.1

2003 acid sugar fl avor overallFlavor King Pluot® (Z) 3.0 3.8 4.6 7.7Craigs Crimson cherry (Z) 3.0 3.5 4.2 7.5Arctic Jay white nectarine (Z) 2.4 4.0 4.2 7.2Eva’s Pride peach (Z) 3.1 3.5 4.0 7.1Blenheim apricot 2.8 3.5 4.1 7.0Kaweah peach (Z) 2.9 3.6 4.2 6.9Sugar May white peach (Z) 2.7 3.6 4.0 6.8August Glo nectarine (Z) 3.1 3.6 4.0 6.7Splash Pluot® (Z) 3.2 3.3 4.0 6.7

2001 acid sugar fl avor overallArctic Jay white nectarine (Z) 2.7 4.0 4.8 8.2Royal Rainier cherry (Z) 3.1 3.7 4.3 7.3Red Fuji apple 2.8 3.7 4.3 7.2Donut™ white peach 2.5 4.0 4.0 7.1June Gold peach (Z) 2.9 3.8 4.1 6.8Flavor Grenade Pluot® (Z) 3.0 3.5 4.1 6.8Splash Pluot® (Z) 2.8 3.5 4.0 6.8Pink Lady apple 2.9 3.3 3.9 6.7Zee Glo Nectarine (Z) 3.2 3.4 4.0 6.7Snow Beauty peach (Z) 2.5 3.8 3.9 6.7

1999 acid sugar fl avor overallArctic Jay white nectarine (Z) 2.5 4.0 4.6 8.2Flavortop nectarine 2.9 4.1 4.5 7.8Craig’s Crimson cherry (Z) 2.1 3.5 4.3 7.5Arctic Glo white nectarine (Z) 3.2 3.7 4.3 7.2Harko nectarine 2.9 3.7 4.5 7.2Arctic Rose white nectarine 2.5 4.0 4.1 7.2

1997 acid sugar fl avor overallCraig’s Crimson cherry (Z) 2.7 3.5 4.1 7.0Emerald Drop Pluot® (Z) 3.1 3.4 3.9 6.8Late Legrand nectarine 2.8 3.4 3.9 6.8Zee Glo nectarine (Z) 3.1 3.5 4.1 6.8Flavor Delight Aprium® (Z) 2.7 3.3 4.0 6.7Utah Giant cherry 2.7 3.5 3.9 6.6

1995 acid sugar fl avor overallFlavor King Pluot® (Z) 3.1 3.9 4.4 8.1Heavenly White nectarine (Z) 3.1 3.7 4.1 7.5Liz’s Late nectarine (Z) 3.5 3.8 4.7 7.5O’Henry peach 3.0 3.8 4.2 7.4Dapple Dandy Pluot® (Z) 3.5 3.6 4.3 7.3Arctic Supreme white peach (Z) 3.2 3.6 4.1 7.3

1993 acid sugar fl avor overallLoring peach 3.1 3.7 4.2 7.3Flavor Supreme Pluot® (Z) 3.2 3.6 4.3 7.2Double Delight nectarine (Z) 3.5 3.4 4.0 7.0Independence nectarine 3.3 3.3 3.8 6.6Mericrest nectarine 3.5 3.2 3.8 6.5July Elberta peach 2.9 3.3 3.7 6.5

Top Overall Scores 1993 - 2014 Top Overall Scores 1993 - 2014