Rose de Berne

Rose de Berne produces unblemished, globe-shaped fruit that growers have called some of the most beautiful among heirloom tomatoes, with a well-balanced flavor to match. The fruit is blocky and squat, colored a warm, nearly peachy pink often marked with a spot of yellow, its smooth, taut skin pulled over a subtle vertical ribbing. That thin skin gives way to a juicy interior with sweetness balanced by a bit of zing, while the flesh itself runs on the dry side, suited to cooking, slicing, and saucing. Individual fruits vary widely in size, from salad-tomato dimensions up to beefsteak proportions, and the flavor is often described as rich and sweet with medium acidity.

Its balance of sweetness and juiciness makes Rose de Berne best suited to fresh eating, salads, and gourmet preparations.

Rose de Berne grows on vigorous, robust plants suited to outdoor cultivation, producing heavy, productive yields of fruit weighing four to eight ounces apiece. The variety matures relatively late, with fruit ripening from around mid-August.

Rose de Berne is an heirloom tomato that originated near Berne, Switzerland, in the early 1900s, where it is also known as Berner Rose, one of the country's old tomato cultivars. It went on to become a standard for flavor among heirloom tomatoes grown across continental Europe.