Domaine Manoir de Montreuil 'Reserve' Calvados Pays d'Auge

750ml bottle

42% abv

Shows forward apple flavors with touches of vanilla, smoke, spice, and subtle beeswax.

• A blend of three vintages made from 100% apples from orchards planted entirely in the traditional, free-standing hautes-tiges method (standard rootstock planted far apart)
• Cider is fermented sur lie in well-seasoned tonneaux for one year
• Double distilled on a gas-fueled, copper alembic pot still situated at the domaine
• Aged 6–9 years in a variety of lightly used and well-seasoned French oak casks; the distillate is gradually reduced with rainwater.
  

The Pays d' Auge is considered the premier Calvados producing appellation in Normandy. Located in the north, two hours due west of Paris, Calvados from this region are distilled twice from 100% apples.

Giard is one of the grand old names in the Pays d'Auge appellation of Calvados and today the estate is run by Patrice. The Giards have traced their family's history back twelve generations to the 1700's.

The family has 30 hectares (74 acres) of orchards, planted entirely in the traditional, free-standing haute-tige method, making for a total of about 3,000 trees. Having haute-tige trees serves a double purpose for Giard in that his 200 cows are free to graze within the orchard. The soils are mostly comprised of clay and small amounts of flint and chalk, with very little topsoil.

The apples are a mixture of the four categories: sweet, bittersweet, acidic and bitter composed of numerous include Domaine, Bedan, Fagotier, St. Philbert, Frequin Rouge, and the acidic Rimbault, Petit Jaune, and Blanc Sur.