Moorpark Apricot

Moorpark is a genuine heirloom apricot variety first documented in England in 1760, though some experts believe it may have actually been grown there since the 16th century. It takes its name from the Moor Park estate in Hertfordshire, where the trees first fruited under record. It was a real, documented favorite of Thomas Jefferson, who grew it at his Monticello estate in Virginia. The city of Moorpark, California is said to take its own name from the apricot trees that once grew throughout that valley — a real, direct naming connection from fruit variety to American place name. The fruit is large for an apricot, reminiscent of a small peach, with bright golden-orange skin often showing a brownish-red blush where it faced the sun, and deep yellow-orange, richly sweet, plum-like flesh with a small, free-hanging stone. It remains genuinely considered one of the best-flavored apricot varieties grown in both England and the United States today, over two and a half centuries after it was first documented.