This tree is moderately vigorous, spreading, and large. It is highly productive, but like most cider apples, biennial tending. It is very susceptible to fireblight and somewhat resistant to scab. Medaille d'Or blooms very late, and care should be taken when selecting a pollenizer. This apple is used exclusively for cider; it is not suitable for fresh eating.

Medaille d'Or ("Gold Medal") is a small, yellow apple that is burnished with a fine russet. The yellowish flesh yields a rich, aromatic, high tannin and high sugar juice that is suitable for a single-variety cider; it is a full bittersweet. Ripening mid-October, the fruit cannot be stored for more than a few weeks before pressing. (Tannin (percent tannic acid): 0.82; Acid (percent malic acid): 0.32; pH: 4.09; SG: 1.059; ^oBrix 14.9.)

This tree was first propagated in 1865 by a Monsieur Godard, nurseryman at Bois Guillaume, near Rouen, France. It was brought to England in the 1880s.