Bigarreau Moreau

‘Bigarreau Moreau’ is an old French variety particularly valued for its early ripening, firm flesh and attractive fruit colour.

The large to very large cherry is rounded to heart-shaped. Its glossy skin turns dark red and then almost black when fully ripe. The red flesh is firm, fleshy and crisp, with lightly coloured juice.

Its flavour is richly sweet, juicy and pleasantly aromatic. This excellent dessert cherry is also suitable for clafoutis, tarts, preserves and other fruit preparations.

Harvest is very early, generally taking place from late May through the first half of June. This early ripening often allows the fruit to escape the main period of cherry fruit fly damage.

The tree is moderately to strongly vigorous, with a semi-upright habit that becomes more spreading with age. It begins cropping relatively quickly and is fertile and regularly productive. The fruit has fairly good resistance to cracking, although heavy rain close to ripening may still cause damage.

‘Bigarreau Moreau’ is self-sterile and has the incompatibility genotype S3S9. It must be planted with a compatible early-flowering variety such as ‘Early Rivers’, ‘Marmotte’, ‘Van’ or ‘Napoléon’. ‘Burlat’, which has the same S3S9 genotype, cannot pollinate it.