A unique
terroir
Normandy has a climate and soil that are ideal for apple growing.
Pom…pom…pom!
The orchards used to produce Pommeau de Normandie cover 800 hectares.
Growing on these million trees are 108 varieties of cider apples selected for their high polyphenol content and their organoleptic qualities.
These cider apple trees flourish in Normandy’s ideal climate of regular and abundant rainfall and maritime influences. The seasonal variations in temperature are small, the landscape is gently rolling and the soils are rich.
These trees stand, like symbols, marking the Normandy landscape.
The Pommeau de Normandie AOC area covers part of the French departments of Calvados, Eure, Manche, Mayenne, Oise, Orne, Sarthe and Seine-Maritime.
This area has a humid oceanic climate with no lack of water in the summer and boasts a wide variety of soil types. This AOC area mainly covers the parts of Normandy where the traditional orchards (i.e. the orchard meadows) and distillation practices have been preserved.
These are areas of bocage countryside with a high proportion of grassland where the growing of cider fruit is sometimes combined with the farming of livestock.
All the operations involved in the crafting of Pommeau de Normandie must be carried out within this geographical area: the harvesting of the fruit, the processing, the “mutage” and the ageing.
These apple orchards grow at least 70% of what are known as “phenolic” varieties, commonly referred to as bitter and bittersweet apples, with exotic names such as Bedan, Domaine, Doux Lozon, Fréquin rouge, Marin Onfroy, Mettais, Noël des Champs, Taureau and Doux Riolle.
