The geographical area extends across 372 communes representing one third of the administrative region of Brittany, forming three highly fragmented sub-zones along the southern and northern coastlines and part of the Pays de Rennes.
The geographical zone rests entirely on the Armorican Massif and excludes marshlands, areas with deep silty deposits, and superficial formations on sandstone and granite.
The climate is strongly oceanic, with mild temperatures and regular but not excessive rainfall, below 1,100 mm, owing to an altitude limited to 120 m.
The orchards remain today characterised by the bitterness of the majority of their varieties.
Human factors
The cider apple trees from which the current varieties are derived arrived in Brittany from Spain and Normandy in the fifteenth century, rich in phenolic compounds that displaced the wild apples used until that time.
The production of cider brandy developed in areas close to fishing ports such as Saint-Malo, Paimpol, Binic, Saint-Quay-Portrieux, southern Cornouaille, and the Morbihan, in connection with the activity of deep-sea vessels and cod fishing.
Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.
About this boundary · approximate area
Approximate area — the union of the 330 commune(s) of the delimited area (INAO); no parcel delimitation exists for this denomination.
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