Cidernaut guide to France
From Ukcider
Just as in Wales and the South of England, there are long traditions of cidermaking in parts France, notably Normandy, Brittany, hence these Cidernaut guides.
Phil Andrews and others began a long list on the French Cider Producers page.
Simon Gleadhill reported back from a scooter trip to Normandy and Brittany
Contents |
Brittany
As regards Brittany, we've stayed for a week or so in the Cotes-D'Armor and there are a good number of cidre producers around, but we found very little poire. Brittany cidre is quite different from Normandy - we found it richer and more full-bodied, and drier. The supermarkets in Brittany tend to stock a range of local cidre as well as the common Loc Raison. Loc Raison is very good *if* you buy the traditional cloudy (bouche) variety in clear, glass bottles, with a proper wired cork. With supermarket cidres, check the base of the bottle to see if it's got a good deep dimple - means there's been some bottle fermentation (like a bottle conditioned ale) and is much better for it. Avoid all the plastic bottled stuff. Ray
Le Corboulo
This website is for a Gîte whose English(?) owners make traditional Breton cider and have a Music & Cider festival in October. I particularly like the pic showing apples being washed in a paddling pool, good idea no?
Normandy
Ukcider list members John and Lynn McWilliam introduce themselves:
- John and Lynn McWilliam, L'Aunay Cidre, Ste. Marguerite de Carrouges, 61320 Carrouges. 02 33 28 19 46 (telephone) johncidre @ aol.com
We are cider producers near Carrouges where there is a brick chateau dating from the 14th century. We are east of Domfront, in the Parc Normandie Maine and we produce our own cider from 10 different local varieties of our 7000 trees on 10 hectares of valley land, begun in 1989. For visits please telephone first and we would be happy to show you around and offer tastings of our 3 ciders as well as pommeau (a cider/calvados based aperitif). Like many French ciders, our ciders are sparkling. We produce a brut, a fruity, very appley demi-sec and a second demi-sec, akin to a champagne in taste.
We are not on the official cider route but as you know, there are lots of different ciders according to the 'terroir' or the environment you find yourself in. We are on granite soils, on valley slopes in an area where there are still hedgerows and woodland.
The Domfront area is famous for its perry as well as cider, which uses a certain proportion of 'perry' pears in its production. The Boisgontiers at Sept-Forges produce cider, perryander and a delicious perry based aperitif, Porissimo, which is well worth checking out. There is a cider museum at Barenton as well.
For accommodation, there are lots of gites and chambre d'hotes (B&B) around our area. One particularly nice B&B is within walking distance of Carrouges at La Gringoiriere run by Trevor and Julie Hill. Very reasonable rooms within a main house and good meals can be ordered as well. If you'd like more details tel. (33) 2 33 27 22 96. or email juliehill (at) free (dot) fr
Carrouges also is the headquarters for the Parc Normandie Maine which is a large area of old granite outcropping which extends into the Mayenne as well as Orne. Visit the Accueil for information about nature walks, panda gites ('eco' holiday lets), wildlife and activities. Wednesday is the local market day.
Alencon, the capital of the department of Orne, has a large Tourist Office near the cathaederal. Alencon was known for its lacemaking and is a pretty provincial town criss-crossed with canals. Markets are Thursday and Saturday.
If you require any other specific information, let us know. We live in a beautiful area and like people to know about it.
Cheers, Lynn McWilliam
Ray Blockley adds:
We drove down through France to the coast of eastern Spain a couple of years ago to see the in-laws, staying at low-cost hotels on the way, but at Gites de France B&B's on the way back. The latter can be very good! We stayed with an old couple at Souce, just south of Domfront for a few days and he insisted on driving us around (in his car!) the local Cidre, Poire, Pommeau and Calvados producers; all tiny farms but intensely proud of their products - and justifiably so too. We could have got quite hammered on the tastings alone.
Pop in to any towns tourist office and you're bound to find leaflets about all the local producers of everything from beef to pork to fruit and veg to cheese - to cidre, poire and calvados. The French are very big on eating & drinking local.
Stephen Wells adds
Cider is great with seafood and you should be able to find moules Normandes on menus. This is mussels cooked in cider - in place of the white wine you get in the standard Mariniere.
Cider meets seafood in a big way at Honfleur, a beautiful small port on the coast of Calvados, where many bars and restaurants serve cider (usually from named local producers), and the dock side is lined with restaurants serving vast platters of fruits de mer. Not to be missed is La Cidrerie, 26, place Hamelin, which is one of the few specialist cider bars in Normandy. They serve light meals, especially on pancakes and salads, with a choice of ciders from named local producers, and a vast selection of Calvados. Cider here is always served in the traditional way in a pot bol, not a glass. You should be able to get hold of cider bowls in a traditional quincaillerie, but I've not seen them in supermarkets.
The French stress on local products doesn't end with the small restaurants and bars, though. I've found that even the chain restaurants in Calvados and Manche, like the Campaniles, feature cider from named local producers.
Routes
A good road to follow for finding cidre, poire, pommeau and calvados is the D579 which runs south from Pont-l'Eveque, through Lisieux, Livarot, Vimoutiers and into Gace. Our fave cidre producer is just north of Lisieux near the little town of Ouilly-le-Vicomte. Turn off the D579 and take the little D159 west towards La Maison Rouge (not shown on all maps), under the railway, over the river and across the crossroads with the D48, you'll find Phillipe Daufresne (in Phil's French producers list he's under Department 14 - Calvados).
Another one we always visit is Carol and Didier Gautard at St-Germain-de-Montgommery, just north-west of Vimoutiers (also listed under Department 14 - Calvados). There are two Gautard brothers and from Phil's and my experiences, I'd say Didier is the best bet... Very friendly, very keen to show you around and tell you how he makes his cidre, but he doesn't speak English.
While around Cambremer, we found the lovely farm of François et Stéphane Grandval at the Manoir de Grandouet one of the nicest places to visit. Again, very friendly, will tell you about their cidre, poire, pommeau and calvados - they have an old still, huge ancient barrels and a video of their cider making to watch. And they are quite generous with their tastings...
There is a marked cider route around Calvados, mapped on leaflets available throughout Normandy. Cambremer and Lisieux vie for the title of France's cider capital, and the route weaves its way around them. There are many small cider producers along the Cider Route and a far smaller number of Calvados and Pommeau producers, because the licence to distil is no longer so easily acquired as in the past.
Do, however, try cider from other parts of Normandy too. It tends to be cheaper but not inferior. Good areas to look are in the Cotentin (Cherbourg Peninsula), around Mont St. Michel, the Pays de Bray (the region centred on Neufchatel), and the Andelle Valley (just East of Rouen). Many of the producers also sell excellent apple juices, honey (from apple blossom), and milk confit. A very few still sell apple spirit and liqueur, but these cannot be described as Calavados or Pommeau because these are legally defined and protected appellations.
Burgundy
http://www.cidrefrottier.com/eng/index.htm
A small family business in the old school. The museum shows how cider used to be made. It may be an unexpected pleasure to discover a whole sub-region of cider (Cidre du Pays d'Othe), that tends to get overlooked, compared with Normandy and Brittany.
The Frottier's are welcoming and there are 8-12 other producers in the region, which is easy to access from Paris with a cider route and map that you can get from tourist
offices. Another family on the route use exclusively Chestnut barrels and made some very good cider.
Other Sites
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