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#2 for 2014 was the Arctic Supreme peach. I have one and it's a good peach but it's only SEMI-freestone. To my taste it's not as good as a Loring,

Yes but overall Loring is number 3 and Artic Supreme doesn't even rate. Any one peach could have a good year.
So the long term stats seem to bear out better fruit. O'Henry is number 2, a lot of people would agree that Loring and OHenry for taste are top rate peaches.

Hardly any peaches developed in the east are there, so it doesn't tell us much about them, But we have Scott, so all is good!

I don't understand how Harken ranks #1 overall for peaches. I've grown Harken here for years (I know it's true to type because it matches the ripening time and description) but it's not my best peach here. I would place Redhaven, which ripens a week later, above Harken in terms of eating quality. Harken is a very furry peach. I don't like all that fuzz in my mouth.

It is a very good peach for its window. Because of that, I have about 15 of this variety planted at the farm, but it's not the best quality peach, as grown here.

I wonder how Dave Wilson tests varieties which have such different ripening times. Loring ripens two weeks after Redhaven. Veteran ripens 4 weeks after Redhaven. Gold Dust ripens 2 weeks before Redhaven. How are they able to objectively compare these varieties against one another, I wonder?

Yeah the rankings mean little really. Red Baron is 13 but everybody who grows it, likes it. Plus it's pretty with double red flowers. I someday want to do a 2 in 1 planting with Red Baron and Double Jewel (pink double flowers). A way to get peaches in the front yard for ornamental value. It fits, the fruit is icing.

For two yrs I attended a tasting every week at DWN test block in Reedley, CA. They brought down experimental lines from Zaigers test blocks up north and drove thru the orchard at Reedley. All the experimental lines were green and impossible to judge fruit taste but some were pretty. In the actual orchard I was always searching the trees trying to find something soft enough to taste decent.

"I wonder how Dave Wilson tests varieties which have such different ripening times."

Olpea I think your 2nd quote explains your first quote. I read one commercial growers blog who attended a tasting/did a score card and he talked about so many of the fruit being under ripe. Perhaps Harken was the dead ripe fruit for the tasting and others were over/under ripe.

I once went to a tasting at Andy Mariani's place, that was a real tasting as every peach was at near-perfect ripeness (who knows how de did it). It was there that I discovered how good Red Baron was in fact, it was one of my top two from his 50 varieties.

Hman, for the record I have not grown Loring, the only Loring I have had were grown by others. So I can't claim a strong opinion on it.

Scott