Apple Quest

12/05/2024

Have you met THE Leopard???

When I saw the announcement of this “hybrid” cider co-produced by .forget61 and , I could not believe my eyes - three great artists, three terroirs, three rivers of tastes, joint in one bottle!

The roundness of Pays d’Auge, the freshness of Cotentin, the complexity of a pear… what an audacious idea!

It has finally arrived to the shops (good shops;) and I was thoroughly delighted with every sip - each terroir and typicality are beautifully defined, and complement each other in clean and deliciously smooth harmony! It is like walking into a Japanese garden, where every plant and element is given its unique place, underlined and enriched by its neighbors… truly incredible result!

BRAVO, Antoine for being the master mind behind this “leopard” and bravo to all three for your art!

#🌳🍎🍷 #сидр #новостисидра #настоящийсидр #новыйсидр #яблочныйквест #впоискахсидра #нормандскийсидр

19/03/2024

This could be the best advertisement for all apple drinks - from juice and cider to pommeau and calvados !!

Indeed, there is no other fruit that played so many crucial roles from the dawn of time and throughout the centuries!

And what can be better than a pure honest « apple in a bottle » with nothing added at all, except respect for nature, knowledge of the master and time?

Would be nice to introduce the label « nothing but apple » to put on the bottles of the rare true Masters of this fruit…

28/03/2023

🇬🇧 For all those who couldn’t come to . This is the start of “professionals only”day - more than a hundred exhibitors: Big Domains and young brands, traditional or new cider producers, perries, spirits, Calvados, aperitifs, Pommeau, juices and vinegars. Workshops, conferences, and presentations. Videos are coming next ;)

🇷🇺для всех кто не смог приехать на #сидрэкспо 2023. Утро дня «только для профессионалов» - более сотни участников: крупные домены и молодые бренды, традиционные и новые производители сидра, перри, спиртных напитков, кальвадоса, аперитивов, поммо, соков и уксусов. Семинары, конференции и презентации. Видео в следующих публикациях

#нормандскийкальвадос

#яблочныйсидр #натуральныйсидр #сидрнатуральный #сидрерия #кальвадос #правильныйкальвадос

22/03/2023

To celebrate the new edition of Cidrexpo ( 26-27th of March) and to complete the constellation of Apple Masters of Normandy, I present to you the Godmother of the Cotentin Cider, Madame Agnès Hérout and her Maison Hérout, Cidres & Calvados

As the first world's treaty on cider declares - “The best ciders of Normandy come from Cotentin" (Julien de Paulmier, 1589). The local inhabitants stand by by this statement ever since, but it is Agnes who has led and won the battle to get AOP of Contentin ciders in 2016.

Its fresh distinctive bitterness is assured be the quality of soil (Armoricain Massif composed of schist and sandstone sediments, granites and relatively thick silty coating) and the local apple varieties.

But it takes a Master to make that bitterness sing in perfect harmony with other notes in the glass! And Agnès Hérout is known exactly as a Master - deeply respectful of ancestral methods, of natural balance in her orchids (classified organic since 1970!) and in her bottles (100% pure juice never pasteurised), but also remarkably creative and talented in her art.

The apple story of her family starts in 1946, today the domain prospers on 10 hectares of tall and short root stock trees ( 10 to 65 years old). More than 25 varieties of apples, most of them are specific to Cotentin: “Petit amer”, “Taureau”, “Cartigny” and “Rouge de Cantepie” or “Binet Rouge”. They are mostly bitter, bittersweet and very rich in phenolic compounds.

Maison Hérout produces two cuvées of Cotentin Bio Vintage AOP Cider (Cuvée Tradition and Grande Cuvée) as well as several Micro-Cuvées of Bio Vintage Cider; Calvados AOC (Young, VSOP, XO, 12 years old and cask strength cuvées in limited editions); an organic Normandy cider brandy; Organic Pommeau de Normandie PDO; Organic Apple Juice and Organic Cider Vinegar.

Every exceptional drink always reflects its maker - if you are lucky to meet Madame Hérout you will quickly discover her strikingly rich personality - she is a radiant, welcoming, straightforward, intelligent and very attentive person.

I can not recommend you enough to go visit her domaine but also the countryside around. IMHO - ciders are not the only exceptional aspect of Cotentin, go see for yourself :)

link to youtube video: https://youtu.be/FhImQTc8-k4

#сидр #кальвадос #настоящийсидр #технологиясидра

04/02/2022

So what is the best Calvados in the world nowadays? Feels very nice that the official French rating coincides with personal experience 😊 Congratulations to the House of Dupont and to all those who were lucky enough to visit it, to taste everything and maybe even meet the legendary Master himself! So - the winner is a 50 years old “non-reduit” Calvados, rated by the R***e des Vins de France 2021, a magazine for professionals in the liquor, wine and eau de vie.

This is not just an “apple in a glass” - it has such an indescribable aroma that you instantly want to pour it into a little bottle and carry it with you everywhere like an amulet-panacea against anything bad. Who has breathed it in once will never recover from addiction!

Ask for the treasured Calvados from your local distributors (see the website of the Domain itself) or buy on their online store.

12/09/2021

Finally! The video presentation of Cidre Clos Moulin with English subtitles!

François Badier is talking about his cider, the soil and the varieties, filtering and racking, natural fermentation, of why he does not add any sulfur, why the cider should not be labeled “Demi-sec” or “Brut” and, finally, which cider does he keep at home!

Sorry, Francois, for such long delay, but better later then never :)

,

a little video presentation, where François Badier is talking about his cider, the soil and the varieties, filtering and racking, natural fermentation, why ...

06/08/2021

🇬🇧Francois Baudier mounted the ladder of cider renommé with astonishing speed - it seems that he was “dropped” into cider as a baby, grew up with perpetual taste of apple in his mouth, cultivated his family orchid for pure pleasure, until made a decision to make a profession out of it in 2019.

All along working as a local school director!

When he talks about his methods, when you taste what comes out of his barn, a comparison comes to the mind - what Zangs is for Pays d’Auge, Francois is for Cotentin. Very few hectares of ancient local varieties, with addition of some neighbours’ apples, the outcome is limited, and you should search hard to find his bottles, unless you come to Ciderexpo or visit this little place near Cherbourg.

As a result of very rare blending, every cuvée carries its own name, followed by “’Emoi”, unique taste and mood, reflecting the particular year and varieties, but always with “cotentin” signature astrigence, complexity, roundness, character - a cider of uncompromising long elaboration, from successive harvesting, by hand, from under the trees, and to natural, long first and second fermentation. No sulfur is ever added. Chapeau, Francois!

Fairly detailed video presentation is coming very shortly. See the man himself, radiant with sincere joy and passion. Note his address, find his cider and try not to fall in love :)

🇷🇺Франсуа Бодье с взлетел на вершину реноме в мире сидра со скоростью кометы. Такое ощущение, что его уронили в сидр в младенчестве, что он рос с постоянным вкусом яблок во рту, занимался сидроделанием для чистого удовольствия, пока не принял решение заняться им профессионально в 2019 году. (привез пару бутылок на винный слет в Самуре, где какой-то русский (sic!) дистрибутор сразу распознал гения, и очень просил 400 бутылок :)

Параллельно, он работает еще и директором местной школы!

Когда он говорит о своих методах, когда вы пробуете то, что выходит из его амбаров, на ум приходит сравнение - то, чем стал Зангс для Pays d’Auge, Франсуа стал для Котантана. Очень мало своих гектаров, яблони старинных местных сортов, с добавлением яблок соседей. Производство очень лимитировано, его бутылки невозможно раздобыть, только если вы не приедете на Ciderexpo или не приедете сами.

В результате очень редкого ассамбляжа, у каждого кюве - свое название, свой уникальный вкус и настроение, отражающие конкретный год и сорта, но всегда с характерной горьковатостью «котентана», сложностью, округлостью, характером - это сидр бескомпромиссного мастерства, от сбора урожая вручную, из-под деревьев, до естественного, длительного первого и второго брожения. НИ МИЛИГРАММА СЕРЫ. Овация стоя, Франсуа!

В ближайшее время выложу довольно подробную видеопрезентацию. Сами увидите, какой искренней радостью и энергией сияет этот сидродел. Запишите его адрес (на карте в моем профиле), найдите его сидр и попробуйте не влюбиться :)

#сортаяблок #натуральныйсидр #натуральныедрожжи #менленноеброжение #сидркотантана #настоящийсидр #нормандскийсидр

17/07/2021

I am sure the famous boy is also carrying a cider! Happy market day to all from Normandy, the land of bottomless gastronomic bliss! Your Applephila, nice to meet you ;)

Уверена, что на знаменитом фото мальчик тоже несёт сидр! Сегодня рыночный день, с гастрономическим приветом из Нормандии, ваша Эпплфилия, Наталья ;)
#нормандскийсидр #сидролюбывсехстран

28/06/2021

Video presentation of Domaine de Rugueville (english subtitles)

Nicolas Flambard presents his cider/calvados farm and talks about terroir, apple varieties, AOP Cotentin, harvesting, natural fermentation, filtering, products etc.

28/06/2021

Domaine de Rugueville

🇬🇧The Cider wave is rising ever so triumphally, what an exciting time to be in!

as much as I am feverish about al the new experiments with cider, I am just as partial to the cider makers, who are not trying to discover the “new continents”, but humbly and determinedly fixed on producing the authentic, the true, the down to earth cider of the land.

Perfected, yes, but not in revolutionary way, but rather in view of the centuries old ideal - the good normandy terroir cider.

I feel that Nicolas Flambard is exactly that type of an artisan - humble, solid, hardworking and absolutely sincere in everything he does. Nothing flashy about the farm, it looks like it had been there for ever, thought Nicolas took over from his father only 4 years ago, and before that, the family made cider for 30 years for “leisure”.

Nicolas works on his own. His product range is impressive, his dedication and honesty are admirable. When you taste his cider - you get exactly what this terroir is famous for - it tastes round, light, joyful in your mouth, with that characteristic refreshing bitterness of Cotentin AOP… This is a cider to have in your fridge at all times - it will be a perfect friend in summer heat, or with your oysters, or as you little cherished “formula of simple joy”. I will be following this farm closely, I feel , in a few years it might become a benchmark of its own.

8 ha, AOP Cotentin, BIO

Quite detailed video about the farm is to follow.

🇷🇺Волна сидра растет так триумфально, в какое замечательное время мы живем!

Как бы ни была я в восторге от всех новых экспериментов с сидром, я столь же неравнодушна к производителям сидра, которые не пытаются открыть «новые континенты», но смиренно и решительно сконцентрированы на производстве аутентичного, традиционного, “чистосердечного” местного сидра.

Да, они работают над его усовершенствованием, но не стремятся устроить революцию, а, скорее нацелены на многовековой идеал - настоящий хороший нормандский сидр.

Мне кажется, что Николя Фламбар - именно такой мастер - скромный, надежный, трудолюбивый и абсолютно искренний во всем, что он делает. Ничего особенного в его ферме нет, кажется, она существовала вечно, на самом деле, Николя унаследовал ее от отца всего 4 года назад, а до этого семья 30 лет производила сидр для «удовольствия».

Николя работает в одиночку. Его ассортимент впечатляет, его преданность делу и честность - восхищают. Когда вы попробуете его сидр - вы почувствуете все, чем славен местный терруар - округлый, легкий, “радостный” во рту, с характерной освежающей горечью Cotentin AOP ... Этот сидр всегда должен быть в вашем холодильнике - он будет идеальным другом в летнюю жару, или компаньоном к вашим устрицам, или просто маленьким «секретом простой радости». Я буду внимательно следить за этой фермой, думаю, через несколько лет она станет определенным эталоном.

8 га, АОП Котентин, БИО

Довольно подробное видео о ферме уже на подходе. Адрес на карте в профиле