It was Didier Dagueneau who convinced Eric Bordelet, former sommelier at Paris’s three-star Arpège restaurant, to develop a new, artisan style of cider, a natural product of character and thirst-quenching ability, which would also work with a wide range of different food. And so Eric refurbished his family’s ancestral orchards and ciderworks and would use his knowledge of viticulture to push for the highest level of quality.

The biodynamically farmed orchards – covering roughly nineteen hectares – are situated in southern Normandy where the Domfrontais extends between the boundaries of the Mayenne and the Orne. The land is composed of schists and sedimentary rocks dating back to the pre-Cambrian period three million years ago. The granite and broken schists form a complex soil and sub-soil that provides the foundation for the terrain.

There are more apples in these brews to shake your pomme-pommes at. Those used include the poetically named Douce Moene, Sang de boeuf, Tete de Brebie, Rambaud, Closette, Marie Menard, Barberie, Javron etc. etc., whilst fifteen or so varieties of pears such as Autricotin, De Cloche, Certeau (originating in the champagne region), Petit Fauset, Connerie, Domfront and Rouge Vigny make up the perry brigade.

Then the pomology (which is not reading the future in apple pips, surprisingly), a process of selection, crushing, pressing and settling. The natural traditional fermentation takes place in vat or barrel and in bottle over weeks and months according to the amount of residual sugar in the respective cuvées and therefore without the addition of any sugar (chaptalisation). The Sydre Brut is a classic dry cider, tender or mellow in the mouth, yet also lively with plenty of acidity and extremely refreshing. This would wash down those marvellous Breton galettes or crepes, and it would be pretty good also with charcuterie or cheese