
With the Cotentinois, we went to meet François Badier, cider producer in Cotentin, in the heart of his orchard.
Our pinched guide us through the apple trees to pass on his knowledge of the history of cider in the Cotentin and its process, from picking the apples to tasting. François reveals to us how, with his colleagues from AOP Cidre Cotentin, he cultivates tradition with passion and innovation.
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Hello François, delighted to be here with you today in your orchard. To begin this interview, I offer you a short set of questions and answers. For each question, you have two choices, you choose the option that suits you best and you can explain to us why this choice. It is good for you ?
Let's go.
Do you prefer Cotentin in summer or winter?
Ooh there, it's off to a strong start for both of them. Both of them, my captain, because in summer, when you're lucky enough to have the sun on the beaches, it's very pleasant and in winter for me, it's It's the season for apples with which we make juices and it's quite pleasant to go to work in the evening. It gives an atmosphere in the mist with the rain, it's quite particular and therefore the two are quite nice.
Are you more into a seafood or local produce platter?
So more local produce, even if I really like seafood, it’s my earthy side that comes out.
Do you prefer hiking or water sports?
More like hiking. But water sports go with it since I really like nature sports, horse riding and mountain biking. Water sports in summer in the Cotentin, there is nothing better.
Coastline or bocage?
Coastline, it cannot be paradoxical compared to the previous answers, but coastline.
Crafts or heritage?
Heritage, because heritage can also be living heritage and therefore we include a little craftsmanship too.
A question more related to your profession, sweet or raw cider?
Raw, without hesitation.
And the last one, bitter apple or sweet apple?
Bitter, typical Cotentin apple, there is nothing better.
Thank you for these answers which allow us to know you a little better. Now, we would like you to tell us a little more about your personal journey and especially why you became a site producer in Cotentin?
So I was born next to Cherbourg and in the family, uncles and grandparents made cider. From the very youngest, I bathed in it and I fell into the pot like Obelix. It became a passion and I bought the field from my uncle who had planted it for his personal consumption in 2015. In 2019, I held a show as an amateur in Saumur. It was a big cider lounge where there were lots of foreigners. And there is a foreign importer who is adored, who ordered four hundred bottles from me. And following that, I created the company. And there, it was fabulous because there were exchanges with restaurateurs, wine merchants, customers all over France.
There you go, it’s a great adventure. What I particularly love is bringing people to the orchard to explain to them, because for me the orchard is the base.
Here, we are in the town of Tollevast, on an orchard which was planted in the 1980s with low-stemmed apple trees. So the difference between base stems and tall stems is the height of the trunk and bastilles will yield more quickly than tall stems, knowing that tall stems are the traditional Cotentin orchard since there were the trees in the middle of the fields and the animals that were grazing underneath. So here, we have low-stemmed apple trees of four different varieties including varieties that are truly typical of the Cotentin, such as the petit amère or the binet rouge.
You mentioned earlier that it was particularly pleasant in the profession to meet those who were selling or showcasing your products on their tables. Do you also like to bring them here, show them around the orchard and the production so that they can see the whole process?
Yes that's it. To have a global vision of the product, you have to set foot in the orchard, which means that for me, it is the basis. Without apple, we cannot have cider, we sometimes tend to complain in the Cotentin about the rain, but without water, we would not have apples and apples, it is cider, so we must bring people to the orchard, explain to them that a tree is alive. And so the apples behind it, it's, it's a living product. The base is here, it’s, it’s the orchard. By bringing them here, they become aware of the product that they will then have to market on their side, and they will know how to talk about it.
For you, is it also important to pass on the cider-making know-how so that it is not lost and also the history around cider so that the inhabitants and all those who consume cider are aware of it in fact? about the history of cider and what’s behind it?
Yes quite. That is to say, we are sure of the communes where I replant my apple trees, where, in fact, during the Second World War which had a very significant impact in Normandy. The English came to take aerial photographs and in all these towns, all the fields were filled with apple trees. They were all cut down in the 60s, it’s a heritage that is gone. This heritage must be safeguarded and made to last.
Besides, my labels are called from inheritance to sharing because we have inherited a lot of knowledge, a lot of notions. The goal is not to keep them for yourself, but to share them.
Cotentin is well known and still recognized for its cider. What makes a region, a territory, suitable for cider production?
A territory is conducive to cider production from the soil. If there are apples here, it's not for nothing. Afterwards, there is a whole history, so if we still have orchards planted in the Cotentin, it is not for nothing. If everything hasn't been ripped away from an era, it's not for nothing. And then it is also linked to varieties, varieties which are specific to a particular place and that is why the AOP Cotentin is an AOP, that is to say that not only do we work on the soil, but there are also varieties which are very important. These are very phenolic varieties, therefore very tannic, which makes them ciders for keeping.
What are the elements that ensure that we are in the presence of an exceptional cider of very good quality?
So 97% of ciders in the world are pasteurized and recarbonated. LCotentin ciders are completely banned, that is to say, they are made from natural foam, so the apples are pressed, the juices ferment in vats and then are put in the bottle where they will be put at least two months before taking their foam. So this makes quality ciders because the bubble is much finer, as soon as you open the bottle, you don't have that smell of rotten eggs, of CO2 that comes out and as a result, you immediately have the apple that comes out and it immediately whets the appetite.
For a cider vintage, do you have to mix different types of apples?
That's it. We are going to have four different types of apples; sweet ones, bitter sweet ones, bitter ones and sour ones. Knowing that Cotentin ciders have a base and a framework based on bitterness. We no longer have varieties of bitter and bittersweet apples.
This mixture of apples allows a good balance of the final drink?
That's it. That’s really the right term, it’s the notion of balance. If we had something too bitter. We're going to miss something, if we have something too sweet, it's the same, we're going to miss out on something else. However, this allows us to have different ciders depending on everyone's tastes, that is to say that we will have ciders in certain regions of France which will be more based on acidity, others based on sweetness, on something round which can accompany slightly different dishes and we are really based on bitterness.
And earlier, you said that you prefer raw cider. What will differentiate a sweet cider from a hard cider?
So a sweet cider is going to be something that's going to be a lot sweeter. A raw cider, or even extra brut, will be much more bitter and dry. This is definitely a trend that is being developed and sought after at the moment. We see it for wine and it’s the same for cider.
Because it goes better, especially with dishes?
That's it. People are looking for that right now. It’s true that it really quenches your thirst under this beautiful Norman sun.
If we took a year which would begin for a cider maker in September, October with the apple picking. In October there would be the picking of the apples and the pressing, so following the pressing, there will be all the work on the juices to try to stabilize them. In February, we will begin pruning in the orchard as well as planting the trees. In March, we will have the grafting of the young plants. In March, April, May, even June, we can have the bottling of ciders which will be at different densities depending on what we want to have, either sweet, brut, semi-dry or the extra-raw. And for two months, the cider will foam, during this time, the grass will grow, it will be maintenance work in the orchard. We will have a big marketing part in July, August and September and then we attack again in October for the apple season.
If you had to describe Cotentin cider in three words, for you, what are the three words that best define Cotentin cider?
So, tradition, because, as I said earlier, if we make cider here, it's not for nothing, it's because we inherit a lot of things. It would be emotion because the goal on a bottle is to share emotion. And then innovation, because certainly, we have a past with cider, but cider is reinventing itself. Every year I try to release a new range, I don't do it alone, I do it in exchange with restaurateurs, I bring people in and we taste, we test. And so, there are things that work very well, there are others that come out very well one year and then the next year, it's not as good. It's in the long term where we do things, but the goal is to test. For example, I make cider with a hop maceration, because we have seen the emergence of beer and people, when they see beer, they go for it straight away and tend to abandon cider. I put this hop cider in beers, in beer-type bottles and suddenly people are tempted to come and that makes a new product. All fellow cider makers try to develop, to research what can, what can please.
Yes, because we have seen in recent years, Cotentin cider producers are also trying to innovate, to modernize this image of cider. And you were talking earlier about Cotentin AOP cider, can you explain to us specifically what it is?
Cotentin AOP cider, there is strength in unity. And if we each stay in our own corner, we can't do much whereas there, we are around ten producers, we meet regularly and we exchange. We discuss what works and what doesn't work. And we taste and what is important is not to stick with one cider, but to taste lots of different ciders to develop our palate. There are ciders that we like, there are ciders that we don't like, like with wine.
We have also heard about the prolonged aging of cider, what is it?
Prolonged aging is innovation, but it is because there are producers who kept bottles aside without opening them for dozens, twenty years, and we realized That was quite suitable for Cotentin cider. Apples are phenolic, they are very rich in tannin, and this makes them ciders for aging where the tannins blend with the fruit over the years. The first year, there will be a lot of fruit and bitterness and all this will smooth out over time to blend and take on a little patina and this will make the ciders quite exceptional.
The idea is a bit like you said, like the tests with hops, is to expand this range and also show consumers that there are plenty of possible experiences with cider?
That's it, that is to say that before cider, we had apples in October, November. We pressed, we filled the barrel. The following year, a new harvest arrived, the barrel had to be emptied and we moved on. We want to break this habit by saying, we keep your ciders for two years and we send them to you after two years and you will see that, it benefits from being made and tested.
We can also link cider to gastronomy. The local gastronomy is still rich enough for you. How does cider fit into this local gastronomy?
So generally, when we talk about drinks, the drinks pair very well with the products. Here, we are lucky, we have a very developed gastronomy, it goes from seafood, the cider goes very well with it, to lamb too, where the extra brut Cotentin cider goes wonderfully. . We have a range of cider which means that you can start with cider and finish with cider and have a cider meal. And that's very good because it's growing because its alcohol content makes people appreciate it more and more.
And we see it there, we have a few bottles in front of our eyes. You spoke earlier that you also borrowed codes from beer. We also see the small bottle, it's quite suitable, I think, also for the aperitif moment, it can also be this fairly fresh cider at different times, either during the day or during the meal?
That's it, that is to say that a small bottle is very suitable for people. Sometimes people come to me and say “One bottle for us is a bit much because there are two of us, we drink a glass each and opening a large bottle for two glasses is a bit of a shame”. It is less good the next day, the appearance of the bubbles is no longer there, by taking a small bottle, people are happy and enjoy it.
Do you have a cider pairing to recommend? Something you particularly like.
So, we can go with a lamb grilled over a wood fire, extra brut cider from Cotentin. So here we are in a pure marvel.
And as an ambassador of Cotentin, what message would you like to convey to people who would like to come and discover Cotentin? What makes our territory so unique and pleasant to live in?
So it's Cotentin, it's a mixture of blue and green, so come and taste Cotentin.
Can you share with us one or more local favorites, whether it's a good address, a place that you particularly like?
So a place that I appreciate is walking on Urville-Nacqueville when we pass from the beach, going up on the moor, passing by the Landemer, going back towards Gréville. It’s quite exceptional.
A nice hike?
A beautiful hiking in the Cotentin, there is nothing better.
Thank you for this exchange. We hope that this has made our readers want to discover or rediscover the Cotentin and above all to have a good time with a good glass of cider.
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