What are Gravenstein Apples?
We’re so glad you asked! Ripened in the warm summer days and sweetened by the cool evening fogs of Northern California’s Sonoma County, Gravensteins are a beloved sweet-tart apple available only for a few weeks each summer. Treasured for their taste and baking prestige, Gravs are great for pies, sauce, juice, and just plain eating out of hand. Get them while you can!
Gravenstein apples are an “endangered American food,” included in Slow Food USA’s Ark of Taste, a living collection of heritage foods in danger of extinction. Housing development, the allure of higher profit wine-grape production, and cheap overseas imports for apple juice and sauce are among the factors that have greatly reduced the number of Gravenstein apple orchards in Sonoma county. Only a handful of farmers continue to grow Gravensteins in the area.