Grower’s Notes and Photos (USDA Zone 7 Experience)
Saved these seeds from a store-bought tomato put out by Prince de Bretagne, a company that sells 12 selected varieties all packed together in a single crate so you can pick and choose whatever you want. Right next to the crates they leave colorful flyers showing off the different varieties.
Pretty smart move on their part when everything else on the shelves is just plain red tomatoes, and here they have all kinds of colors and shapes. Plenty of folks will buy some just to give them a try, and that’s how their business has been rolling along for 3 years now. It’s an old French variety, fruit color ranges from purple to black, juicy, with a tougher skin than Black Krim.
Dark inside with red flesh. Rich, well-balanced flavor with a nice mix of sweetness and tang, plus a light floral perfume. Our plant grew up to 3.3 ft (1 m) outdoors, and yield was below average, most likely because it’s a late-season variety. Two of the fruits had some dry cracking around the stem end, as you can see in the photo. The Noir tomato is on the left, next to some green tomatoes to compare the color.
Full Summary: Origin, Plant, Yield and Taste
- 🌿 Origin & Plant: Grown from seeds saved from a French Prince de Bretagne heirloom medley tomato. Described as an old French variety, it matured late in the season and reached about 3.3 ft (1 m) when grown outdoors.
- 🍅 Fruit: Smooth, round, medium-sized dark tomatoes with purple-to-black exterior and dark red interior flesh. The skin is firmer and more durable than Black Krim, though a couple of fruits showed minor dry cracking near the stem scar.
- 📈 Yield: Below average in the open ground, which the grower attributes to its late-season maturity.
- 👅 Taste: Juicy, rich, and harmonious, balancing sweetness and acidity with a subtle, perfumed aroma.
- 🌎 Who Reviewed It: One grower located in the border region of Germany, Luxembourg, and France (USDA Zone 7).
