In the same way that you often find ancient stone olive mills in Provence or Italy, archaeologists often find stone wheels made of granite from the production of Cider in Normandy. It is believed that the production is approx. two thousand years old. In any case, cider is the area’s most famous drink and had a major boom during the phylloxera period after 1860, when most vineyards in France were destroyed. In ancient as well as in recent times, cider has often been highlighted for its healing effects.
At Christian Drouin, they use a combination of more than 30 apple varieties from carefully defined plots and a very slow, cool fermentation. This promotes lightness, dryness and finesse rather than a heavier style. Lelouvier Cidre Doux is a light, fruity cider, made 100% from apples from the Normadiet. Although the cider is called “Doux”, it is not distinctly sweet, but it has an incredibly harmonious and balanced sweetness.
Cider can be enjoyed as a welcome drink or without food, but also goes well with dishes “à la Normande”, i.e. with cream or with apples. In the area (or in Brittany) it is traditionally used for savory or sweet pancakes. It is a natural companion to dishes where cider is included in the preparation. Cider should be served chilled, and in Normandy it is usually served in a mug rather than a glass…
Lelouvier
The Négociant house Calvados Lelouvier was founded by Alain Lelouvier in 1933 in the village of Briouze, in southern Normandy. In the 1970s, the son, Christian Lelouvier, took over the family company and raised it among the most respected producers of quality Calvados and Cider. In parallel with his own distilling, Christian Lelouvier continued to buy Calvados from the small producers the family had followed for many years, make the right blends and mature them in the house’s unique cellars. Calvados Lelouvier quickly gained top positions on the spirits charts of the world’s star restaurants and the best specialty shops – a position that the company still maintains today. When the company’s last owner recently passed away, with no possible successor in the family, it was natural for the colleague and business partner of many years, Calvadoshuset Christian Drouin, to buy the company and run it in the same spirit. Guillaume Drouin, who today stands at the helm of both companies, emphasizes that for many years, both Drouin and Lelouvier have had the same philosophy and the same search for quality. Fruit was often bought from the same growers, so in the future you will have the opportunity to target efforts in production. Unlike the Christian Drouin products, Lelouvier’s Calvados are distilled on a single-distillation system, similar to those used in Armagnac. Therefore, the Calvados from Lelouvier taste very different from those from Christian Drouin, which are distilled twice.
