Domaine Lesuffleur Friardel (bitter apples) 2020 (1x75cl)

The structured one. Friardel comes from the grandfather's high-branch single orchard — trees averaging fifty years — on blue flint over chalk in the village of Friardel, Pays d'Auge. This is the orchard behind the cider the family records as having been poured for Queen Elizabeth II at « Au Caneton », Orbec, in May 1967.

Half the blend is tannic cider apples, which gives it grip and a dry, almost vinous finish — the bottle to hand a red-wine drinker.

• Blend: 12+ varieties — 50% tannic (Domaines, Fréquin…), 35% sweet & bittersweet, 15% sharp
• Method: hand-picked, indigenous yeasts, keeving; fermentation finished in bottle, ancestral method
• Ageing: 30 months on fine lees in bottle; disgorged Mar 2024
• Style: dry, tannic, gastronomic — roast duck, pork, washed-rind cheese

5.5% vol · 750 ml · contains sulfites