
Sops in Wine
Apple – National Heritage

Type
Apple – National Heritage
Harvest
Mid Season
Uses
Dessert/Culinary/Cider
Planting Position
5
A very old traditional English variety that makes a great all round apple tree with dark red fruit and pink stained flesh. The name comes from the variable red-staining of the flesh, which might be patches under the skin or all the way to the core, as if bread sops were dipped in wine. First recorded in 1629, Parkinson wrote ‘Sops in wine is so named both of the pleasantness of the fruit, and beautie of the apple’. It was recorded from 1826 in the three London Horticultural Society catalogues. Some call it a West Country or Devon apple, others suggest Sussex or Surrey. The apples are of average size, highly coloured dark red / mahogany on the sun facing side and orange yellow on the shade side. Fruits are juicy and sweet with an aromatic flavour. They are excellent for juicing, cook well making an unusual, coloured apple crumble and can even be used to make an early sweet cider. It has particularly attractive dark pink blossom and the crimson fruits give it an ornamental quality too; even the wood has a deep pink stain.