Our Variety Assessment

Its strengths, growing requirements and the conditions in which it performs best.

Douce Moën is a benchmark Breton variety for rich, rounded cider with gentle bitterness. Its bittersweet juice combines high sugar content with strong technical quality for cider making. We recommend fertile soils with a reliable water reserve. Productivity is only moderate and can fall sharply under repeated drought stress, making this cultivar less suitable for dry, shallow ground or orchards without adequate moisture.

Douce Moën

Price range: 26,75 € through 59,75 €

Classic bittersweet cider apple from Brittany, producing sugar-rich fruit that creates full-bodied, aromatic traditional ciders.

Choose your tree form

1 year old grafted tree – approx. 1–2 m

Half-standard – 1 to 1.5 m stem

Standard tree – 1.8 m stem and over

Apple rootstock options

Bittenfelder – approx. 6 m mature height

EM9 – approx. 2.5 m mature height

M116 – approx. 4 m mature height

MM111 – approx. 4 m mature height

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Tree size guide

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SKU: 29231 Categories: Apple trees, Cider apple trees

Description

Douce Moën is a famous traditional cider apple from Brittany, in western France. It has become one of the best-known French cider cultivars thanks to its excellent juice quality and its importance in many classic cider blends.

The bittersweet apples are particularly rich in sugar and produce fragrant juice with pleasant tannins, giving ciders excellent body, complexity and aromatic character. Harvest generally takes place from early to mid-October.

The tree has medium to strong vigour and begins cropping relatively early, although yields may become irregular under stressful growing conditions. When planted on fertile soils with adequate moisture, Douce Moën rewards growers with fruit of outstanding cider-making quality.

Variety characteristics

Variety origin

An old French cider apple originating from southern Brittany, where it has been cultivated for centuries and remains one of the region’s classic bittersweet cider varieties

Origin

France

Period of origin

USDA zone

Zone 7 (-18C)

Flowering

4 - late

Harvest period

October 1-15

Eating / keeping period

Use

Disease resistance

Self-fertility

Pollinator value

Ploidy

Origin and identity

Parentage

Unknown.

Synonyms

Dous Moën, Doux Moën, Dous Moën Rouge, Doux Moine

Growth and adaptation

Vigour and habit

Medium to vigorous tree with a semi-upright habit when young

Disease behaviour

Scab

Moderately susceptible.

Powdery mildew

Susceptible.

Canker

Good. Mature trees generally show good resistance to European canker.

Pollination

Compatible pollinating varieties

For reliable fruit set, plant at least one variety with a compatible flowering period nearby. Flowering period: 4 - late.

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Harvest calendar

Extend your harvest season

Discover varieties from the same category harvested just before, at the same time or just after.

At the same time

October 1-15

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