Antoinette, St. Nicolas, Bedan des Parts, Brannetot and Rossignol are just some examples of the many local varieties to be found in our five-hectare cider apple orchard. We do not use chemicals on our trees.
The apples are harvested by hand in the autumn and the apples are then stored for a month until they are totally ripe.
When the apples are ripe enough, they are turned into juice. They are sorted to get rid of any rotten ones, then washed and milled to produce a pulp called marc (pomace). This is then pressed to obtain moût (fresh apple juice). At this time of year, the air is filled with the pleasant scent of apples.
The juice is stored in vats. The natural yeasts from the apples turn the sugar in the juice into alcohol: this is called alcoholic fermentation.
Depending on how much sugar the cider contains when it is bottled, it will be either:
sweet: high sugar content, 3° alcohol
medium: medium sugar content, 4° alcohol
dry: low sugar content, 5° alcohol
extra-dry: very dry, 5.5° alcohol
After bottling, the bottles are stored. Our cider is not pasteurized, so the natural yeasts continue to ferment in the bottle and produce carbon gas. It is this second fermentation that gives our cider its natural sparkle.
