Cider and Perry from Normandy

Although Normandy was a wine-producing region in the 12th and 13th centuries, it is obviously famous today for a different beverage than wine. Wine production, now extremely limited, has been replaced by the production of cider and perry. Normandy is now France’s leading producer of cider. Cider was introduced to Normandy in the 6th century by the Basques. Its production saw a considerable increase beginning in the 13th century thanks to the invention of the press. Normandy boasts six cider A.O.C. designations that guarantee product quality through the selection of regional apple varieties and strict control of production methods: Calvados, Calvados Pays d’Auge, Calvados Domfront, Cidre Pays d’Auge, Pommeau de Normandie, and Poiré Domfront.

Normandy’s cider orchards produce between 300,000 and 350,000 metric tons of cider apples each year, only a portion of which is processed by industrial producers. Another portion of the fruit is used for family-scale cider production or for artisanal or farm-based processing.

Traditional orchards are primarily found in two geographic areas: the Pays d’Auge and the Normandy Bocage (southern Manche and the Bocage regions of Calvados and Orne). The area covered by these orchards has been shrinking considerably in favor of specialized orchards—or low-stem orchards—particularly since the storm of December 1999; these are located in Calvados and support a more industrialized form of production.