Ficus carica 'Violette de Bordeaux' End Of Season Review 2023

 

 'Violette de Bordeaux'

 In these observations I am only referring to the main crop.

    This is one of those fig varieties I recommend you do a little research on or you might end up with a few of them in your collection under two or three different names. ‘Violette de Bordeaux’ translates to “Violet of Bordeaux”, a region in France, this dark French fig is common meaning it’s capable of ripening its main crop in areas that do not have the magical and most desired “fig wasp”. Some of the common synonyms you might find in the online market space will be; ‘Negronne’, ‘Vista’, ‘Nero 600m’, and ‘Petite Negri’ and there are a few more I’m aware of, most likely many more that I am not so check your inventory and watch out for the synonyms.

    In our short season maritime climate the main crop ripened towards the end of the season, pretty late. After 3 or 4 years of observing this variety I’ve noticed the figs ripen earlier and earlier each season as it matures but is still generally one of the last to ripen its main crop out of my collection. The tree has been a slow grower so far and it’s still young leaving plenty of room for improvements so I’m leaving it in ground for further observations.

     In a perfect world I would like ‘Violette de Bordeaux’ to ripen earlier in the Puget Sound region but really the only thing this variety lacks is vigor at a young age. I’ve seen others document how vigorous this cultivar can be once established so keep in mind when choosing a spot in the landscape that it may take longer to mature compared to other varieties. The growth has been quite compact with short node spacing and a lot of sprouts from down low on the trunk. Because of these habits I decided to let it naturally grow shrub like instead of pruning for a single leader tree.

    What this variety lacks in vigor at a premature age it makes up for with abundant fruit production and precociousness which tells me what this plants priorities are and where all of the energy is going. With all of this energy going into fruit production it’s clear why the tree stays small, until the root system builds up enough energy to push into vigorous shoots and branching each season. 

    I find the dark medium sized fruit to be just as beautiful as the compact shrub like structure of the tree which is why I chose this variety over a handful of others to grow in the front yard. The exterior of the fruit is longer than round in shape with a very tight to a completely closed eye. The exterior colors are a deep and rich saturated black with these wonderful little red and white dots that look like distant stars. You can tell there is this beautiful shade of deep purple that lives under these deep black tones where the colors transition at the neck from the saturated black to a rich purple, then followed by a trail of the most beautiful shades of neon pink I have ever seen. I was always into space growing up and if these colors remind me of anything it’s galaxies and the deep void of unknown emptiness. When I bite into these figs I noticed the skin can be tough if not well ripened but not in a bad way. I personally find this fig a pleasure to eat before it is completely ripe just as much as over ripe because the textures vary and change throughout the ripening stages.

     Being a later ripening variety paired with our climates unavoidable challenges one thing I worry about with a variety like this is the fruit cracking and going insipid due to higher moister levels that move in when this fig wants to ripen a main crop. I believe the tough skin helps keep this fig looking beautiful while others start deteriorating in the rain by keeping out moister out better than those varieties with really thin skin.

     The interior reminds me of a glossy blood red ruby with light hues of pinks. I observed the pulp to be quite dense with a delightful jam like texture. The seed crunch was light and due to the dense pulp, I found the cavity on almost all of the fruit to be mostly filled or completely filled in. The flavor profile was one of the most complex of all the figs I’ve tried from my collection throughout the season which surprised me because it ripened fruit in the harshest part of our season. The most standout flavors were a combination of strawberry and raspberry with a little bit of acidity. With the flavors being so complex it gets harder to translate into words but without a doubt this was one of my favorites. Not every fig in my collection leaves me walking away pondering what I just tasted and what I can compare it to.

Ficus carica 'Niagara Black' End Of Season Review 2023

 'Niagara Black' AKA 'Longue d'Aout'

 

            ‘Niagara Black’ is more commonly referred to as ‘Longue d’Aout’, a common cold hardy French fig whose name translates to “Long of August”. This variety is known for producing a somewhat unique breba crop whose fruit is medium to large and exceptionally long as opposed to its main crop; smaller, shorter, and more round than long.

 2023 will be the third or fourth year in ground and even more special, this is the first season it produced a crop. I was hoping I’d get to try some brebas but instead I was gifted a wonderful main crop for the first time and I thought a few things were worth mentioning here.

I found the growth to be semi-vigorous and the crop set to be mostly precocious, setting fruit at almost every node. The size of the figs from the main crop were small to medium sized and although this tree hasn’t produced a breba crop yet, it’s capable of producing two crops in our short season climate. I find this to be a positive trait when choosing a variety for the Puget Sound region because this means the fruit will ripen over a longer period of time. 

            Being an early ripening variety, ‘Niagara Black’ was able to ripen most of its main crop before the rainy season started, however, once the rain did set in most of the figs within a few days of ripening lost a lot of their flavor because of the slightly open and exposed eye. This can cause issues when it rains but the tree is young and may end up ripening fruit earlier in the season as it gets older. With that said, this variety does a good job bridging the ripening gap between ‘Archipel’ and ‘Conadria’.

 At first bite what comes to mind is a rush of sugary sweetness quickly followed up with a noticeable berry profile and honey undertones that sit in the background. The seed crunch is light and enjoyable with a thin skin that’s soft and peels if you brush it the wrong way. When I think about the textures of the interior what comes to mind is a light amount of honey or syrup and a whole lot of jam. The inside of this fig is as beautiful as it tasted with gradient pinks to reds and ambers. When you slice one of these figs open you can see the sweet glossy syrup that coats all of these beautiful colors. The exterior the fig presents itself with a brown undercoat as it ripens and depending on how much sun the tree gets a dark shade of a transparent like purple can develop sometimes covering anywhere from half to the entire fig.