2022 Julien Frémont Poiré Cidre

REGION: Normandy, FR
SIZE: 750ml / ABV: 6.5%

"Julien makes his pear cider in exactly the same way as his apple cider. The pears are hand-harvested and then placed in the attic to dry out for a few weeks to concentrate the flavour. Following the drying out process they are pressed using the ancient press that has been in the family for generations. The juice is then left to ferment naturally before being aged in very old barrels.

This is a fine cider with lively bubbles, an elegant pear taste and a long, lingering finish. We only have a small allocation of this tasty drink so it will not last very long." - Living Wines

Julien Frémont is a cider and Calvados maker from Normandy who makes cider the same way that his family has made it since the early 1700s – and using the same beautiful wooden press that the family has owned since that time. The only differences between the old way and Julien’s way is that he prefers dry cider and the traditional approach was to make sweet cider in this region. Julien tends his orchard using organic and biodynamic principles. Cows graze between the trees to keep the ground cover healthy.

After he hand-harvests the apples they are carried to the loft in the large, ancient building that dominates the farm using a ‘home grown’ pulley system of little buckets that carry them upwards. Here he ‘cures’ them for at least a month and sometimes for many months so that the flavours concentrate as the apples dry out. This dramatically reduces the juice yield when the apples are finally pressed but significantly improves the flavour of the cider. We find his ciders immensely satisfying and beautifully crafted and he uses no additions. No sulphites are added at any time. There are also some oxidative notes to his cider as the wooden barrels he uses are over 100 years old. This adds even more complexity to the finished product.