Just returned from a fabulous trip to the Wolfskill Experimental Orchards near UC Davis, California. There are many, many types of crops grown and preserved there, among them about 185 different varieties of Pomegranates. These are in two blocks, one small block near the farm house and another large block of about 160 varieties in the rear acres. In most cases there are two plants of each variety growing next to each other in a row, so that large block of 160 varieties actually contains 320 plants.
I arrived on Friday morning, and thanks to some excellent directions from HarveyC, drove straight to the larger block and began taking field notes on plant health, vigor, growth characteristics, and of course tasting the fruits as I went. On Saturday morning I continued, then went to the tasting at 10am.
I would guess that about 40 people were present for the tasting event. There I saw Harvey and had the pleasure of meeting Joe Real. The curator of the Pomegranate orchards Jeff Moersfelder along with several staff and volunteers had arranged for tasting of 18 varieties. Also present was Jenny Smith, curator of Persimmons, Olives, Kiwi, and Mulberries. She had put out tasting samples of some remarkably good persimmons and kiwis. It was great to meet Jenny, because I have been in pursuit of a fruit-worthy Diospyros lotus for quite some time now, and she is just the person to help.
After I had finished tasting the mere 18 varieties at the visitor center, I went back to the fields to finish tasting the rest and taking field notes. After a while, the staff brought folks from the tasting out in vans and I had a chance to pick Jeff's brain for awhile. Among other things, we discussed the variability of taste in some varieties due to the growing climate and especially weather variations between years. For example, the variety "Parfianka" will take on a range of flavors and quality depending upon the winter, summer, and fall conditions.
Based discussions with the staff and my own experiences, I believe that the flavors of pomegranates will fall roughly into one of four categories:
- sweet and non-acidic, like a ripe Thompson grape with no tartness
- watermelon
- an apple-citrus delicious fruit flavor (near ideal acid-sugar balance)
- berry, as in youngberry or boysenberry
Another dimension you should be aware of is that pomegranates have seeds. In some varieties the seeds are small, soft, and do not interfere with the enjoyment of the fruit. However in many of them the seeds are not small and whether small or large, can be very hard -- almost too hard to crunch through. As an example, variety 104 "Hotuni Zigar" has a fantastic, intense berry flavor but the only way to enjoy it without wearing out your jaw is to juice the fruit. Its juice by the way is as dark as Concord grape and makes an excellent fabric dye.
Here are a few of the photos I took. The first here shows two shrubs of "Ovadan" on the outer row of the large block. At the tips, they are about 8 feet (~2.5 meters) high. In the background you see some mulberry trees.
Here is a close-up of Kukurchinskii. As you see, the fruit is fully developed but small -- not quite the size of a golf ball. I was told it has a gorgeous bloom and makes a beautiful ornamental plant.
