Wine Enthusiast says, “Tones of baked apple drizzled with honey beg to be paired with warm apple pie à la mode. Don’t let the sweetness fool you—there’s enough tannin and acid to please even dry-seeking palates.” (AP) (9/2015).

A sommelier by training, Eric Bordelet was in charge of the wine program at the three-star Michelin Arpège in Paris for several years. In 1992, Eric returned to Normandy and took over his family's 19 hectares of orchards. His goal was to revolutionize the cider industry and bring it into restaurants, high-end retail and export markets. A close friend of his, Didier Dagueneau, an iconic winemaker from the Loire Valley, encouraged him down the path of producing unique ciders from apples and pears--ciders that compare to vintage wines. Although they are required to be non-vintage, the cuvée name on his bottles actually denotes the year of harvest.

The core of Bordelet's estate is the 1.5 hectares of antique varietal apple and pear trees that are 40-50 years old. Some are even 200-300 year-old trees! He plants only true varietal (non-hybrid, non-cross) trees, and the trees are balanced between sweet, bitter and sour varieties. Currently, he has 20 varieties of apples and 14 varieties of pears planted. The orchards are certified biodynamic, and Eric believes this farming regimen along with his unique terroir, low yields and the mature age of his trees are the defining reasons for his benchmark quality.

This is an off-dry cider with just enough residual sugar to round out the palate. It comes from multiple sites on schist and sedimentary rock. The apples are hand harvested, then dehydrated for 4-5 weeks, ground up, pressed, settled for clarification and then naturally fermented. The fermentation originates in tank and finishes in the bottle with bubbles developing within two weeks of bottling. 

Brunch Foods, Charcuterie, Cheese, Chicken/Turkey, Cream Sauce Pasta, Dessert (fruit), East Asian (Chinese/Japanese/Korean), Fish (white), Hors d'oeuvres, Just for Cocktailing, Perfect Aperitif , Shellfish