The 'Champagne Renette' apple variety impresses with its long shelf life and robust growth. Here you can find out how the apple tastes and what you should consider when growing champagne reindeer in the garden.
Like many apple varieties, 'Champagne Renette' is an apple with many names: 'Käsapfel', 'Zwiebelapfel', 'Zweijärling' and 'Schätzle' are just a few of the names that lovers of the variety have come to know her have bestowed on time. As is so often the case, they all contain a grain of truth: The 'Champagne Renette' is rather yellowish and feels a bit greasy, which makes you think of cheese or an onion. In addition, the apple tree is known to develop a usable crown within only 2 years. This explains the name biennial. We'll tell you everything you need to know about growing 'Champagne Renette' in your own garden.
'Champagne Renette': Profile
| Synonyms | 'cheese apple', 'onion apple', 'two year old', 'Schätzle' |
| Fruit | small to medium sized; wax yellow base color |
| Flavour | wine sour |
| Yield | regular |
| Harvest time | from the end of October |
| Maturity for pleasure | from December |
| Shelf Life | very good; Can be stored until May |
| Growth | medium strong; well branched |
| Climate | not suitable for too cool and windy locations |
| Diseases and Pests | No known vulnerabilities |
Origin and history of the variety
The name 'Champagne Renette' is easy to explain: The variety was discovered and described around 1799 as a chance seedling in the Champagne region of France. But it took almost 60 years for the 'Champagne Renette' to achieve prominence. In 1857, it was recommended in many places for cultivation as an economic apple because it had excellent useful properties for the conditions at the time. From the end of the 19th century she was countedthe most important apple varieties grown in South Tyrol. It was not used again until the 1930s. In the meantime it can only be found sporadically, primarily in Germany and France.
Apple variety ‘Champagne Renette’: taste and properties
The 'Champagne Renette' is a small, at most medium-sized apple. It is spherical and often very flattened and flattened. The surface is somewhat uneven and features prominent edges and dents. The basic color is waxy yellow, the top color is almost non-existent: Only a pale pink veil can appear on the sunny side. The skin is smooth to the touch and frosted with vegetable waxes and fats you can see and feel. Rusting is rarely found on the 'Champagne Renette'. The flesh is yellowish-white, rather coarse and often glassy due to the inclusion of the fructose sorbitol. The taste is wine-sour and very distinctive. Freshly harvested fruits in particular are far too sour to be enjoyed and can only be eaten with pleasure after several months of storage.
Sliced ‘champagne reindeer’ oxidize very quickly on the cut edges and turn brown.
Cultivation features
The 'Champagne Renette' is very suitable for cultivation in the home garden and can also be trained as a trellis. It has a medium climate requirement, so too rough, cool and windy locations are unsuitable for it. As a seedling, the variety has medium-strong growth and develops a rather small, rounded to pyramidal crown. With age, this widens and hangs over. Growth can of course be altered by using a rootstock. Growth can be slowed down even more with slow-growing rootstocks such as the M27, and with fast-growing rootstocks such as M25 or A2 you get a stately standard. Because the strain branches well, two years of training pruning is often enough to complete the formation of a usable crown.
The 'Champagne Renette' flowers mid-early and is not very sensitive to the weather. This results in slightly stable yields, provided the basic needs of the tree are taken into account. The soil at the growing site must be fertile, loose and sufficiently moist.
One of the following varieties should be available nearby as suitable pollinators: 'Cox Orange', 'Geheimrat Dr. Oldenburg', 'Goldparmäne', 'James Grieve', 'Ontario', 'White Winterbell Apple', 'Lavant Valley Banana Apple'.
Vulnerabilities to pests and diseases are from the 'ChampagneRenette' is not known, but it tends to have two physiological problems: Under suboptimal conditions such as heat, drought or wind, pre-harvest fruit can easily fall, so that the harvest is reduced at the last moment. In addition, the fruits are often glassy, which means that large amounts of sorbitol are stored. This sugar alcohol is actually only formed in the apple as a transport form and can lead to digestive problems in some people.
Tip: "Glassiness" is particularly strong when the tree has too much foliage relative to little fruit. For this reason, 'Champagne Renette' should not be thinned out, even if this means the apples remain smaller.
Harvest time and use of the ‘Champagne Renette’ apple
The 'Champagne Renette' is ready to pick from around the end of October. Fruits harvested early can be stored in a cool place until May of the following year, which is an unbelievable 7 months. You should use the 'Champagne Renette' from December at the earliest, then the acids will have broken down due to the post-ripening and there will be more tasty sweetness in the fruit. Some experts even recommend waiting until March to eat it.
When properly ripe, 'Champagne Renette' can be used as table fruit and in the kitchen for baking. The variety is also very suitable for cider and preserving.
If you are looking for a large apple tree for your garden, the 'Boskoop' might be something for you. We introduce you to the apple with the excellent taste in our special article.