Brut Cider - Eric Bordelet 2024
Éric Bordelet Brut Cider 2024 embodies one of the major references of French gastronomic cider. Former sommelier at L’Arpège, Éric Bordelet chose in 1992 to return to the family orchards to apply to cider the same exacting standards as those of great wines. Located in southern Normandy, on the borders of Mayenne and Orne, he works a twenty-three hectare estate planted with cider apples, pears for perry, and service trees. His approach is based on a very fine reading of the fruit, the vintage, and the terroir, with an ambition that far exceeds the traditional image of cider. The Brut Cider 2024 represents the most direct and thirst-quenching cuvée of the range, while maintaining true precision on the palate. It is a dry, expressive, and bright cider, ideal for discovering the Bordelet universe in an accessible, pure, and remarkably balanced style.
The Brut Cider 2024 cuvée is made from a blend of about twenty different apple varieties. This diversity of fruit allows for a natural balance between sweetness, acidity, bitterness, tannins, and freshness. The apples are hand-harvested and selected according to their maturity, then dehydrated before blending, crushing, and delicate pressing. The ancestral natural fermentation takes place in tanks or barrels, without chaptalization, in order to respect the fruit’s own sugar and the identity of the vintage. The estate’s soils, located on the schist and granite Armorican massif, provide a mineral framework and a beautiful tension to the cider. The Brut 2024 has an alcohol content around 6% vol., with a dry, lively, and particularly refreshing expression. It is a precision cider, closer in spirit to a fruit wine than a simple traditional beverage.
In the glass, this cider reveals a pale yellow, bright color, animated by a fine and natural effervescence. The nose opens with fresh apple, apple skin, slightly tangy fruit, and a discreet floral touch. The palate is dry, lively, and very digestible, carried by a delicate bubble and an immediate sensation of freshness. Notes of crunchy apple, soft citrus, and slight bitterness give relief to the whole. The finish remains clean, salivating, and thirst-quenching, with a beautiful purity of fruit. This brut cider should be served around 8 to 10°C, both as an aperitif and at the table. It will perfectly accompany a buckwheat galette, fine charcuterie, roasted poultry, offal, farmhouse camembert, aged brie, or a lightly sweetened apple tart.
