- Red Trier Wine Apple: Profile
- History and Origin
- Properties and taste of the apple
- Red crab apple: cultivation and care
- Harvest and use the 'Trierer Weinapfel' apple variety
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The 'Red Trierer Weinapfel', also called 'Red Crab Apple', is a popular cider apple. We will introduce you to the grape apple and explain what you should consider when growing and caring for it.
The apple variety 'Trierer Weinapfel' (Malus domestica 'Trierer Weinapfel') is also called 'Roter Trierer Weinapfel', 'Roter Trierer', 'Trankapfel' or 'Rouge de Trèves ' (Trèves is the French name of the city of Trier). This old variety is characterized by high yields and a long shelf life, which is why it was considered a very good cider apple and dessert apple early on. Unfortunately, it needs a particularly good location and sufficient care to be able to show its qualities. Because the fruits remain small if not cared for and the tree can be susceptible to scab, the 'Roter Trierer Weinapfel' variety is only for more committed apple lovers.
Red Trier Wine Apple: Profile
| Synonyms | 'Red Trier Wine Apple', 'Red Trierer', 'Trankapfel', 'Rouge de Trèves', 'Red Crab Apple' |
| Fruit | small to medium sized; yellow to green base color with brownish to bluish red top color |
| Flavour | juicy, tart-sour |
| Yield | high, tends to fluctuate |
| Harvest time | from November |
| Maturity for pleasure | from December |
| Shelf Life | very good; Can be stored until April |
| Growth | strong at first, later weaker |
| Climate | undemanding; prefers sheltered locations; no altitude |
| Diseases and Pests | susceptible to apple scab on unsuitable sites |
History and Origin
The 'Red Trierer' comes from the area around Trier, a city in Rhineland-Palatinate that lies directly on the Moselle and can look back on a long fruit-growing tradition. The 'Red Trierer Weinapfel' was discovered in a group of experimentally sown seedlings and propagated. He was already at the beginning of the 19th century throughoutCultivated in Germany, France, Luxembourg, Austria and Switzerland, but only pomologically described in 1872.
Typical is its use as a street tree, where it forms regular avenues due to its tall growth and provides fruit for local residents and animals.
Properties and taste of the apple
The fruit of the 'Red Trierer Weinapfel' is only small to medium-sized and broadly ovoid to spherical. The surface is even, the skin is firm, fine and smooth and the stem is long and thin. The basic color of the shell is yellow to green. However, this is often hardly visible, because the brownish to bluish-red washed-out top color can cover the apple completely. Apples from the inside of the tree also have at least a quarter of the same color.
The flesh of the apple is firm and juicy, greenish in color and, above all, tart and sour. The acid is only partially neutralized during storage by the synthesis of sugars. The taste of the 'Trierer Weinapfel' changes significantly with storage.
Red crab apple: cultivation and care
The growth of young red Trier wine apple trees is very strong, especially on their own roots. The growth only weakens when the yield begins, i.e. after 8 - 12 years. Some old, unkempt trees are barely growing and are aging because their high fruit set robs them of all the resources they need to grow. The apple tree forms a high, overhanging crown, which later becomes wider and can look quite picturesque.
Because of its initially strong growth, the 'Roter Trierer' is primarily used as a standard tree on a medium to strong-growing rootstock. Weak-growing and less stable rootstocks should not be used here.
If you want to harvest high-quality apples, you should definitely prune the tree regularly: the 'Roter Trierer Weinapfel' should be prune when young in order to steer the unbridled growth in the right direction, slow it down and ensure a good crown structure to reach. In old age, on the other hand, to prevent aging and to promote the formation of new, high-quality fruit wood. Find out how to properly prune apple trees in our special article.
The flowering of the 'Red Trierer' is late and robust, so it almost never freezes. However, because the apple bears so much fruit, it drives itself into alternation. So there are fluctuating yields: A year with huge quantities of small applesfollowed by a year of total failure. For this reason, the 'Roter Trierer Weinapfel' variety requires thinning, during which so many of the hazelnut-sized young fruits are removed between the middle and end of June that only two fruits remain per inflorescence.
Suitable pollinators are for late flowering the 'Ananasrenette', 'Baumanns Renette', 'Goldparmäne', 'Ontario' and 'James Grieve'.
The 'Red Trierer Weinapfel' also makes great demands on the soil and climate: the soil should be fertile and be able to store plenty of water. High yields are possible, especially on calcareous soils. On normal garden soil, a complete fertilizer such as our Plantura organic universal fertilizer should therefore be used regularly. Liming can also make a big difference on rather acidic soils.
The climate should - like on the Moselle - be a wine-growing climate. Unsuitable locations quickly lead to apple scab infestation with this demanding variety.
Harvest and use the 'Trierer Weinapfel' apple variety
The harvest of the 'Red Trierer Weinapfel' is scheduled late. In November at the earliest, rather in December, the ripe fruits are harvested and then not eaten immediately: they are still far too sour for most people. It is better to store them in a cool, dark place and to taste again and again over the course of the months whether the taste has improved. The 'Red Trierer' can be stored until April. The sweeter it is, the more suitable it is for cider and cooking, as well as for direct consumption. The apple retains its firm skin throughout the entire storage period, so that it can also be transported without any problems.
A good partner for the 'Roter Trierer Weinapfel' is the 'Ontario' apple variety. Not only because it acts as a pollinator, but also because the variety prefers similar growing conditions.