Robert Panzer is out with his Bordelet Cider offer and I just wanted to let folks who aren’t on his list know. These are really “vinous” ciders if you ask me; more like a sparking wine than a beer. I would recommend you get a few to sock away as they really age well. Just a recommendation, no commercial interest.
2018/2019 Eric Bordelet Cider offering
Bonjour du soif de plein été en Normandie,
The roaster hot temps of the past week here in the northeast had me rummaging the stash for the few remaining bottles of Eric Bordelet’s singularly delicious sydres. When the kitty is that bare for a pleasure such as this, it begs for a refill.
A theme that I consistently encounter from folks who are disappointed to come back for refills to find me bare handed is that they wish they would plan better for their full year’s needs, as this is a one time per year offer, and I keep it pretty lean and mean on extra inventory. So please do just that, think of the thirsty times to come in both cooler and hotter seasons…here are a few prior chunks o’ prose to sink your teeth a bit deeper, if Bordelet is new to you…and so:
Bonjour d’un Quixote inimaginablement courageux,
I knew that Eric Bordelet made some of the most outrageously tasty apple and pear cider on the planet; from the very first bottle I had ever tried, it was thunderclap evident: NECTAR OF THE NATURE GODS. I had also heard that he was a pretty amazing guy. So when Amber and I visited with him at his family’s Chateau de Hauteville in Normandy this past June, I was excited to finally get to meet this fellow, and learn a thing or two.
MY MIND WAS BLOWN.
Soft spoken, serious, and a bit mischievously playful, Eric first walked us through the Fitzcarraldo-like incredible renovation project of the main Chateau, burnt to the ground before it came into his family’s possession with but one remaining wall fully intact. Massive construction cranes, retrofitted gigantic support columns, general organized chaos and heavy lifting goes on here daily, and will continue to until the Chateau is returned to its original shape, who knows when, with the original still functioning cellars below completely intact, replete with a library of his own Armagnac slumbering away…who does such a thing??
We then walk briefly among some younger planted orchards as Eric points out differences in how the plants flower (it is June), what they prefer, how old they need to be to produce. “Wait a sec, did you just say the pear trees are not mature until they are 100 years old?,” I ask, incredulous that such long term vision even exists in modern times. “Yes. Some of the trees that produce the Poire Granit are over 300 years old,” Eric says quite matter of factly. HOLD UP: Can you even imagine planting seeds today for your great grandchildren??
Walking through the feels-like-a-barn “winery” and the series of specialized tanks/presses/bottling equipments, Eric grinned saying, “It took me a while to figure all of this out…we now make it look easy.” When I quip that the hairy caveman standing next to a mastodon pictured above is a relative of mine, Eric smiled but didn’t laugh. The phrase around the edge of the tank reads, “We are realists, we demand the impossible”. He then tells me that it is a portrayal of his dearest friend in the world, the late Didier Dagueneau, who was a visionary Loire valley winegrower. Without Dider’s encouragement, friendship, and support, Eric would have never undertaken his sydrely road. To this day, Eric is terrified of airplanes, having cancelled the majority of his plane travel at the last minute due to the anxiety and grief he experiences at the thought of planes; that is how Didier passed, a recreational aircraft crash…
In the tasting room, we’re all smiles. Without being too much of a blowhard, the guy is an absolutely remarkable master craftsman; the balance of acidity and residual sugar is a pure delight. There is at once an immediacy of pleasure and refreshment, like fancy gourmet apple juice for grownups, and yet subtle intriguing pleasure to every cuvée. When we arrive to his most complex nectars, the Poire Granit and the apple based Argelette, it is clear we are at another level of stony terroir driven intensity. “How do they age?,” I ask. Eric just grins his impish grin, and rummages around in the wine fridge. We proceed to taste 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, and 18 year old examples of a combination of each type out of 750ml. Simply put, they are absolutely incredible!! (THINK MAGNUMS!!)! The aromas and flavors were kaleidoscopic, with the vintages of higher acidity being the most animated and dynamic. “Cool, slow ripening years, with tiny fruits, that is my favorite,” Eric says. Amber and I are just shaking our heads in disbelief. Absolutely remarkable…
As we are readying to depart, I already feel a sense of bittersweet attachment to this incredibly gifted and unimaginably courageous dude. He has given the last 25 years and will seemingly give the rest of his life to making the impossible a reality, and succeeding. As we bid adieu, I can’t help but feel that the world needs more souls like Eric, more reverential long term visionary Quixotes…
Eric gives me directions to the completely unassuming sanctuary that houses his small grove of 300 year old Poire Granit trees. It lies adjacent to a graveyard in a tiny town that we will pass. And so we do. The image above is taken on a breezy sunny June day, like so many lovely afternoons these ancient fruit bearing trees have witnessed. A pastoral, timeless tranquility reigns supreme. The ambition of a human lifetime is but a blink of the eye relative to this elemental cycle forever turning. Having had just a glimpse of Eric’s world and this place, I will now toast to this gentle majesty and to Eric’s unimaginable undertaking with a far deeper appreciation until I too join the souls that the graveyard remembers. These trees will flower again…
Below you will find the original offering of the full range of Eric’s sydres, at the best prices one will ever encounter nationally. I have yet to have a single person tell me anything but glowing reviews and repeat orders for these, with my entire inventory sold out within two weeks of their arrival. Plan on stocking up, as there will not be much extra left laying around.
AS ALWAYS AND EVER, TO YOUR HEALTH AND HAPPINESS!!!
Robert
The original offering:
Bonjour de l’univers des autres fruits fermentes,
The story of fermented fruit drinks is an ancient one as it seems that it is in our DNA to make tasty lightly alcoholic beverages for pleasure and refreshment. Today we’re talkin’ apples and pears, whose history as a libation takes us through Hebrew, Greek, Roman, Basque, and Gallic history. In around 900 A.D., modern day Normandy in northern France emerged as the epicenter of apple and pear cider production. Over the next millennium, it was here that people refined both the process of cider making as well as the clonal selection of the MANY varieties of apples and pears used for blending their respective sweet-sour-acidic qualities. Enter today’s introduction…
Eric Bordelet came to cider after spending the formative years of his young work life in wine. He was a sommelier for a decade, most notably at Alain Passard’s L’Arpege in Paris, before getting his oenology degree in Beaune. His parents had purchased the ruins of the Chateau de Hauteville in the 1960s, and it was here that he installed himself in 1992 and began to push the limits of traditional cider making in a spirit of respect and reverence for the diversity and complexity so deeply rooted in Normandy.
Working with over 30 apple varieties and 15 pear varieties, some from CRAZY old trees up to 300+ years of age, he incorporated a terroir driven aspect to his organic farming, noting the influence that the granit, schist, lime, and clay soils had on the resultant fruit character. In very little time, the world took notice of his exceptional undertaking and produce, the brightest star in the Normandy cider sky. He is now THE reference point producer and ambassador for the versatility and complexity of what the French ancients called Sydre.
What follows is a complete offering of his wonderful variety of Sydres, all offered at the best prices in the US. This is a one shot deal, as I will bring in what is presold, and not much more. I implore you to mix up a case or two as you will thoroughly enjoy the usefulness and downright deliciousness that they offer. I’ve included a translation of each cuvees description as detailed in his website: www.ericbordelet.com. It is well worth perusing to learn more about how he does what he does…
LE MENU
Apple sydres:
2019 Jus de Pomme Petillant $12 - A relatively new item in his lineup is this sparkling, non-alcoholic apple juice. I imagine (like all things Bordelet) that it is silly tasty and pure…this one really is gourmet apple juice for grownups…
2017 Sidre Brut $11
“A classic dry cider, lively, acidic and refreshing for summertime. 7% alcohol.
A good pairing with charcuterie, fowl, and giblets.”
2019 Sidre Brut Tendre $11
“A demi-sec cider of lovely balance, fruit and matière (substance), a good compromise between the brut and the sweet with a little bit of residual sugar. 5% alcohol.
A good pairing for simple cuisine, useful throughout the meal.”
2017 Sidre Tendre $11
“A sweet fruity acidic cider with aromas of wild apples from the Fall, low in alcohol 4%.
This accompanies perfectly desserts and pastries.”
2018 Sydre Argelette $18 in 750; 2017 $39 in Magnum “Grand cru Sydre”. Having tasted how well this ages, what can I say? ABSOLUTLEY INCREDIBLE.
“L’Argelette is the name given by the ancients designating the type of schist rock; it is a complex cuvee made up of the maximum number of apple varieties grown from the oldest trees. A blend of of the maximum number of apple varieties with the concern of respecting the vintage.
It is a very vinous Sydre of great aging potential thanks to its balance between matiere, acidity, roundness, fullness, and minerality. 5% alcohol (varies by vintage a bit).”
Pear sydres: As tasty as the apple nectars are, the pear sydres are my personal favorite. Pears have roughly double the acidity of apples, so they come across as even more dynamic in their mouthwatering appeal. The Granit may be one of the most delicious things you will ever drink, and it ages FOREVER…
2019 Poiré Authentique $14 in 750ml, 2019 $29 in Magnum - MY GOD. UNBELIEVABLY TASTY. I AM GETTING TWO CASES FOR MY HOUSE, LIKE I DO EVERY YEAR. DEEEEELICIOUS.
“A thirst quenching demi-sec pear cider with good acidity, pale color as dictated by the vintage, all about fruit and freshness. 4% alcohol. Great as an aperitif, with ocean fare, and cheeses.”
2019 Poiré Granit $22 in 750, 2018 $49 in Magnum ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. I keep a vertical going of this so that I can show people just how well this stuff ages…This is, as far as I am concerned, his flagship bottling, the one you find in gastronomy restaurants around the world…get a bunch and thank me later…
“Granit defines the rock where the roots of the pear tree plunge in the cracks of the Granit. The deep root system of the pear tree gives this great minerality. This quality is even more present in this cuvee thanks to the VERY old pear trees (some 300+ years old). It is a blend of the maximum number of pear varieties, according to the vintage. 4% alcohol.
This accompanies great cuisine of noble ingredients, as an aperitif before great white wines, or to end a meal.”
LES VOILA!
If you haven’t already become a member of the Bordelet fan club, as soon as you try one, you will be…Dive in folks, these are a very special category of delicious and useful treat…
These are due to arrive in the early Fall, just in time for cool weather’s arrival…
Upon confirmation, payment due via check/CC+%.
As always, with any questions or interests: rob@downtoearthwines.net
CHEERS TO ERIC, REDEFINING THE POSSIBLE, ONE APPLE AND PEAR AT A TIME!
Robert
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