The Gravenstein apple has achieved worldwide recognition as an apple with
superior flavor. Culinary uses are very diverse. Not only is the Gravenstein apple wonderfully crisp and flavorful
straight from the tree, but these qualities are not lost through the cooking process but rather captured and enhanced.
Many people believe Gravenstein apple juice, cider and apple sauce are incomparable to other varieties for this reason.
In 1820 the first West
Coast Gravenstein orchard was planted by Russian fur traders at their outpost in Fort Ross. The trees survived the intense
coastal weather. Soon afterward, orchards began cropping up in neighboring towns with a concentration of trees thriving
in the sandy loam soil of Sebastopol.
