Manoir de
Grandouet

Located on the “Route du Cidre” (Cider Route) near the village of Cambremer, in the heart of the Pays d’Auge, the Manoir de Grandouet cellar is open to visitors throughout the year. The terroir and the climate make this an excellent location for cider production.

Beneath Grandouet’s small 12^th-cen­tu­ry church, the 16^th-cen­tu­ry timber-framed press room, belon­ging to the Grand­val family since 1856, houses foudres (large vats) that are over a cen­tu­ry old. Yvon, the grand­fa­ther, recons­truc­ted the manor and star­ted deve­lo­ping the cider pro­duc­tion acti­vi­ty in 1945. Fran­çois, the father, conti­nued this deve­lop­ment and still handles the Calvados dis­til­la­tion and ageing. Today, Sté­phane, the son, and his wife, Lucile, are per­pe­tua­ting this savoir-faire.

On this typi­cal Pays d’Auge farm dedi­ca­ted to apple and milk AOCs/AOPs, the pro­duc­tion has now been conver­ted to orga­nic agriculture.

All the apple-based pro­ducts are craf­ted from the farm’s 25 or so varie­ties of cider apples and aged, to conti­nue to draw out all their fla­vours, in the timber-framed cellars.

The Pays d’Auge AOP ciders are rich in colour and subt­le­ty. They com­bine a fruity round­ness and a hint of bit­ter­ness. The Pom­meau de Nor­man­die is aged in oak bar­rels where it takes on a gor­geous amber hue. The Pays d’Auge AOC Calvados are made using a pot still and aged accor­ding to tra­di­tio­nal methods. Apple juice and perry, also made with fruit from the farm, com­plete the range.

All the pro­ducts, as well as the Normandy AOP cheeses (Pont‑l’evêque, Liva­rot and Camem­bert de Nor­man­die), are sold direct­ly at the cellar.

The tas­ting is free and you can expect a warm family wel­come ! The tour also includes a video that explains all the har­ves­ting, pro­ces­sing and dis­til­la­tion work.