Courménil: an exceptional Norman terroir in the AOC Pays d'Auge
It is the particular make-up of our orchard soils on their clay-limestone substrate and their perfect due-south exposure on gently sloping hillsides that give them exceptional qualities, at the very summit of our already fabulous terroir in the south of the Pays d'Auge.
These tall trees are more beautiful, far more vigorous, and host an infinitely richer biodiversity than the intensively farmed low-stem orchards.
Admittedly, intensive rows of small trees give their first apples in 7 years instead of 15, and are easier to prune than our high-stem trees...but...
A 100% traditional orchard
At Courménil, our AOC Calvados du Pays d'Auge orchards are all high stem trees in the Normandy tradition.
They receive NO TREATMENT WHATSOEVER.
Our bees are the most perfect guardians of their health...as their honey is of ours!
When my parents were young, they were afraid of nothing.
One by one they planted more than:
- 1000 high-stem apple trees,
- 150 espaliered pear trees
- 200 other fruit trees
- among many other things
a crazy amount of work!
Thank you, parents!
But the cider industrialists have sadly still not understood that the juices, ciders and calvados that come from intensive dwarf trees will never match the qualities of fruit borne by traditional open-grown high stem trees such as ours.
An orchard restored to its full grandeur
Courménil: a conservation orchard in AOC Calvados du Pays d'Auge
40 years ago the orchard was in serious need of restoration. But which variety should we plant?
To avoid waiting 30 years (sic!) and realising... a little late... that we had not planted the right ones, we selected ALL the varieties of the AOC Calvados du Pays d'Auge decree,
In doing so, we have:
- interplanted the pollinating trees to make our bees' work easier
- varied the flavours between sweet, bitter and sharp apples to enrich the blends to come
- staggered the flowering dates to reduce losses in the event of frost or hail
- spread the ripening dates of the fruit between early, mid and late, to balance the harvesting work
And so, without really realising it,
we have created an ideal conservation orchard, the most complete in our AOC!
Courménil: an orchard watered by a divine spring, the source of the Dives...
What orchards and what distillery could dream of a finer spring on their land than that of the Dives, already described as "Divine" and "Sacred" in a manuscript of 1015, more than a thousand years ago?
This little river, which rises on our land, enchants our Normandy bocage and contributes, through its hydro-geological qualities, to the excellence of our AOC Calvados du Pays d'Auge, the most prestigious of them all.
An orchard for several lifetimes
You do not plant an apple tree for yourself... but for your children
You do not make Calvados for yourself, nor for your children... but for your grandchildren.
Collector's Calvados
Vintage Pommeaux
Les Dérangés Normands
An ultra-premium liqueur
