Beer / Ciders / Frédéric et Catherine Pacory
Frédéric et Catherine Pacory - Poiré Domfrontais and Cider
Mantilly, Basse-Normandie
The Domfrontais takes its name from the city Domfront, located in the Southern part of Normandy in the Orne department and about an hour and a half east of Mont Saint-Michel. Because of the deep clay soils (usually more than 1 meter of topsoil) and the firm granite sub-soils, pear trees grow better than apple trees and poiré, also known as perry or pear cider in English-speaking countries, has always been the specialty of the region. The Pacory family has been in the Domfrontais since the beginning of the 1800’s and have lived on the farm Ferme de Grimaux since 1939. At first their principal activity was raising cows, primarily for their milk but also for their meat. As cows need grazing space, tall apple and pear trees planted on high, standard rootstock allowed both types of agriculture to coexist. From this fruit, the family pressed cider and poiré and distilled calvados for their own consumption. In 1959, Claude Pacory extended the farm and planted more trees. He also decided to sell his bottles for the first time. His products gained recognition in competition and prizes began rolling in, including a first place trophy in 1971 for Best Cave in the Domfrontais. 
In 1986, Frederic Pacory, with his wife Catherine, took over the domaine. Together they have established themselves as highly respected poiré and calvados producers within the region. Their 90-hectare property is planted with 700 pear trees (all of them tall and many of them over 100 years old) and 400 apple trees (all of them tall and most over 25 years old). Their orchards are entirely organic and none of the trees nor their soil has ever seen a chemical treatment. About a dozen new trees are planted each year when other trees die or get blown over. In this way the next generation is assured of having an orchard full of old, fruit-bearing trees.
Pacory’s poiré and cider always come from one single vintage. They make traditional poiré and cider--that is with local, often nearly extinct varieties grown on tall trees, using indigenous yeasts, clarified by racking rather than filtering, and completing a secondary fermentation in bottle without the addition of sugar or gas and without pasteurization. Of course some light sediment may develop that contains polyphenols and spent yeast cells. Not only are they not harmful, their presence is a sign of the poiré’s authenticity. 
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Frédéric et Catherine Pacory Poiré Domfront
This more "traditional" pear cider is made with 100% Poire de Blanc, from trees more than 100 years old and with 30 trees on a hectare. These pears are stocked in wooden boxes for 36 hours after falling to mature even further. The un-clarified juice is cooled for several days to develop further aromas. The tanks return to normal temperature and the pear juice ferments using its natural yeasts for 3 months. After several rackings, the poiré is stored upside down in bottles with crown caps, and not disgorged. A beautiful example of single-varietal, traditionally made poiré, this has a touch more acid than its cousin "L'Ideal". 
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