Bittersweet · 20 trees planted · confidence medium
A Normandy heirloom bittersweet said to trace to the Benedictine abbey town of Bernay, inedible fresh but long valued for cider. The greenish flesh gives a robust golden juice with a distinctive dry, smoky finish and prominent fruit character, typically used at up to about 30% of a blend, and the hard fruit grinds easily with good juice yield. WSU's marine-climate data shows it as a mid-blooming, mid-October, annually-bearing tree with moderate rather than heavy tannin.
Disease: No disease-susceptibility data found in any authoritative source - treat as unknown and observe locally. WSU records a semi-spur, semi-upright habit with good productivity (3.7/5) and no alternate bearing.
Discrepancies: Biennial: Cummins and Albemarle say it tends to biennialism while Trees of Antiquity calls it an annual heavy producer; WSU records no alternate bearing - recommended low per WSU, which breaks the tie. Tannin: nursery copy describes it as high-tannin and bitter/astringent, but WSU measured 0.19% - recommended medium per WSU. Bloom: Trees of Antiquity says late bloom, WSU's 5/8 is mid-season - recommended 3 per WSU. Ploidy unresolved in all sources; confidence raised from low to medium once WSU trial data was found.