A medium to sweet, full-bodied, rich cider from northwestern France (chiefly Normandy and Brittany), made from tannic bittersweet apples and balanced by residual sweetness. Often lightly funky and frequently bottle-carbonated. Typically a modest 3–6% ABV.
In the glass
Appearance
Clear to brilliant; medium yellow to amber, sometimes deeper than other traditional ciders; higher carbonation can throw a brief soda-like foam.
Aroma
Fruity and fairly sweet, with a full, rich apple character; a background spicy-smoky, phenolic, or farmyard note from malolactic fermentation is common but subtler than in English cider.
Flavor
Sweetness and tannin combine for a rich, mouth-filling apple flavor; tannin lightly dries the finish. Restrained malolactic complexity is typical.
Mouthfeel
Medium to full, mouth-filling body; moderate tannin felt as palate fullness more than bitterness; carbonation from moderate to Champagne-like.
Origin
Northwestern France — especially Normandy and Brittany — has a deep cider (cidre) tradition built on tannic cider apples. A defining technique is keeving (défécation), which slows fermentation by depriving the yeast of nutrients, leaving natural sweetness and gentle carbonation.
Notes
Where English cider runs dry and structured, French cider is sweeter, rounder, and lower in alcohol, often sold by sweetness level (doux, demi-sec, brut). The natural sweetness comes from arrested fermentation rather than added sugar in traditional examples.
Defining examples
Domaine Dupont Cidre Bouché·Eric Bordelet Sidre Tendre·Écusson Cidre Doux·Maison Hérout Cuvée Tradition
Sources
BJCP 2025 · C1DFrench Cider
Wikipedia contributors. “Cider.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed June 14, 2026.
↗Institut de l’Appellation d’Origine Cidricole (IDAC). “Fifteen Centuries of History in Normandy.” Accessed June 26, 2026.
↗Lea, Andrew G. H. “Keeving.” The Wittenham Hill Cider Pages. Accessed June 26, 2026.
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