Nicola is the trade name of the apple cultivar SPA440, a cross between the apples 'Splendour' and 'Gala' made at the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre (PARC), Summerland, BC [1]. Nicola is a late season apple, typically harvested at 3-4 on the Cornell general Starch chart. Fruit is bicolour, large in size and typically a solid fire engine red over colour, (~80%) over a yellow-green background colour. Fruit is crisp, juicy, and sweet and stores well, with full aromatic flavours developing after several weeks of storage. [2].
Nicola is currently only available commercially in Canada. Plantings are limited in size, but growing yearly with greater production coming online in 2010.