the title says it all. this is first fig of the yr that blew my socks off. strong berry flavor. sweet and complex. from all the figs this yr, and last 3 yrs, i can honestly say, in flavor, this is the top. 

the flavor was some what of strawberry and raspberry. it wasn't simple fruit taste. it had that complex flavor on top of the berry flavor. bit of crunch from the seeds. just a perfect desert fig. still have few on the tree. and i'm sure it will only improve as time goes on. 

this is what i was looking for.. WOW!!!

Looks great pete can't wait till mine is big enough to fruit.

Looks great, hope I get some to compare with you next year.

hope you guys fig will do as well as mine did, or better. this fig is just amazing. i mean.. i love Paradiso Gene, no doubt about it.. but this one is even better than VdB. i just hope that weather will not prevent this from happening next yr. this yr was rather lousy as far as weather was concerned, but last 3 weeks' been amazing, and i think that paid off. 

mine is from USDA/UCD. and i don't see much of an issue with FMV/FMD on this one. nor do i see any specific issue on Black Madeira.. now my hope for the BM is growing even more.. and Ischia Black. 

Very happy for you Pete that you finally got a wow fig! Your pics look amazing too, so juicy and red inside. I had one of these so far this year, but I broke it off accidentally and it was a few days premature, waiting for some more to get the true taste.

Looks great.  Started some cuttings this year so I'll have to take good care of them.

thanks barry. i'm rather surprised that USDA/UCD figs are blowing me away this yr. first Calvert, and now CdDB. if Black Madeira and Ischia Black pay off. and maybe Barnissotte.. oh well.. it just might be that i'm in a location that ain't so bad :) 

All Col de Dame are just as good,white grise and Black,all are top tasting fruits,one could say havenly tasty.
Col de Dame (UCD specimen)white, will not grow well outside warm ideal climate due to health problems,grise and black are better growers,and I have two mature trees of the 2, I mentioned.
It is a big major mistake that this cultivar was not  planted in California orchards as a commercial variety for fresh fruits,because a better one I doubt it exist.

Glad to hear it tastes so good. :)

One of my two CdD B is doing very well (warm but not hot weather). The other is doing nothing - perhaps better described as 'barely hanging on'. So I guess I really have just the one. :) But it has begun to form fruits too. Probably too late, but you never know.

I really looked forward to this summer to get to taste more new figs. That pleasantly happened. But now I can really hardly wait for next summer to taste many others for the first time. Not to mention just having more figs in general.

Fun stuff.

Look up Richard Watts.  He sells plants for $20, I think.  Or something like that.

sophie, no extortion needed :) the cuttings are free from USDA/UCD. and once my tree grows well enough.. cuttings are free for asking when there are enough. 

Looks good Pete. All this talk of how good they are is giving me something to look forward to even though they aren't on the dark side.

I have only a couple of figs on mine that have a chance to ripen, all the others are too small.

I might have to cover the trees in a make-shift greenhouse if it cools off soon.

i'm sure there are many members who grow this. i mean, this fig has been on the list of available figs from USDA/UCD for yrs. i guess only difference is that i posted the pix. it's been reported that this is one of the best figs for yrs. not sure why we have not seen so many reports on it yet. other that that this is not a dark fig... lol

Congratulations!  I'm glad you got something spectacular after a hard year.

Very nice!  I ordered a CdD, along with a bunch of other nice varieties, from UCD back around January, so I don't expect mine to come in until around November, or so, but in the mean time, I can live vicariously through you!

Pete:You are the second person behind me reporting on it outside California and southern France,because you are the second gardener getting ripe fruits from the white variant,on this Forum.
That is because the white variant,is totally diseased,and will not fruit easily,outside ideal climate area.
Mine produced a handful of fruits in 2008,and after that it went down in production,worse every year,till the point I found someone in California to buy the 7 years old plant for $30,and shipped it bare rooted.
The Grise and Black,from, East coast figs,is a much better deal,I keep them.

herman, if i can get it to ripen here in NC, i'm sure it will work for most folks south of me. it does have FMV, but it's not as bad as some others. it's mostly clean. i'll have to wait to see what happens with CdDN. that thing grew fast this yr, but didn't put on the figs till late.

Herman, I have this plant, it is currently carrying about a dozen figs. Only a 2 year old tree. Seems to be only minimally affected by fmv.

Pete,

Nice fig ! I am glad you have managed to end up ripening such a good fig
Congratulations ! You well deserve it.

francisco

BLB:Mine produced a ferw ripe figs in the third year after that the mosaic,became more and more damaging.

all my USDA/UCD trees are young. will monitor further as yrs go by. next yr will be 3rd yr for Black Madeira, Calvert, CdDB and others. it would be interesting how they will perform. in theory, they should behave better next yr since they are growing very well. really don't notice FMV in those.. but i have heard how some trees just take a nose dive. 

CDD blanc grows well here and has fruited for a couple of years I think. Very good, but only has a few figs every year so far. Will not touch the taste or productivity of a Black Madeira here, yet. CDD's advantage here is that it can really take the rain (2011 fig here after 4 days in rain plus a 2013 fig). Black Madeira will swell and leak red fluid, but CDD has that tight eye.

scott.. so Black Madeira is much better fig? if it's much better than CdDB.. i can't imagine what that would be like.. thank god weather here is just lovely this month.

it looks amazing! thanks for sharing