Spiced Gravenstein Apple Butter

Made from delicate Gravenstein apples we drive back every August from Walker, a family farm in Sebastopol that’s over a hundred years old.

Crisp, sweet and tart, these Gravensteins yield the best apple butter we’ve ever tasted, its texture pure silk, and now combined with comforting fall & winter spices to call in the cooler, holiday months and nourish the soul.

Gravenstein apples were first planted in Sonoma County in 1911 by Russian trappers. Extremely delicate and perishable and difficult to harvest, Gravensteins face extinction due to a mixture of these conditions with a startling amount of their orchards’ land being converted to vineyards or rural estates. According to Slow Food USA, there are only six commercial growers remaining in Sonoma County and only 15,000 tons of Gravenstein apples a year. 

Origins
We get our Gravensteins from Walker’s Apples, a family farm in Sebastopol that’s over a hundred years old! Jessica used to drive up in her Prius, fill her car up, and drive back down—now, we fly there, rent a jeep and drive back down. Lee Walker’s an ancient creature who lovingly hands us his apples in a quick farmer-to-city gal transaction. We believe true love’s what keeps their farm going and going...