Fameuse Apples

Fameuse apples (aka Snow Apples, Chimney Apples) are small-sized apples with pale yellow skin with red flushes, or an entirely red skin.

The flesh is white, sometimes with red streaks and is juicy, mildly tart and sweet.

The tree is very cold hardy, and very productive and reliable, producing the same amount of apples almost every year. They ripen in late August.

Unlike almost every other apple known to man, a Fameuse apple tree will often grow true to seed.

The Fameuse Apples are all-rounders, good for fresh-eating, cooking and cider.

History Notes

Fameuse apples existed before 1700. Some think the apple originated from seeds brought from France, some say it developed in French North America. It is possibly related to the “pomme à compote de Normandie.”

In the 1730s, the apple was being planted around Lake Champlain (at Chimney Point) by Québécois. Chimney Point got its name because after the French-Indian war (1754–1763), for the most part only stone chimneys remained of what had been the Québecois settlers’ homes. The Fameuse apple trees planted on the farmsteads survived and so acquired another moniker, that of “Chimney Apples.” ^[1]”In the Lake Champlain area of New York State, they became known as Chimney apples because some trees were planted near Chimney Point. The variety became known as the Chimney apple — after its Chimney Point source… ” — Peebles, Giovanna M. Lake Champlain: Voyages of Discovery. Vermont Division for Historic Preservation. 2009. Page 35.

Some speculate that it was one of the parents of McIntosh apples.

Language Notes

Fameuse Apples got their “Snow Apples” synonym in America later because of how white the flesh is inside.

“Fameuse” means “famous” in French.