Manoir de Grandouet has belonged to the Grandval family since 1856.  Nestled in a valley in front of the town’s 12th century church, the farm stands about 2 miles from Cambremer, the capital of Pays d’Auge cider.  Grandfather Yvon Grandval undertook the reconstruction of the manor and began serious cider production in 1945.  François, son, continued this development and still participates in the distillation and aging of their calvados. Stéphane, his son, along with his wife Lucile, perpetuate this expertise and now farm all their property organically.  

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Their apple trees are both tall, planted with traditional rootstock, and smaller, planted on dwarf rootstock. A total of 48 varieties line their 25 hectares (62 acres) of apple orchards, with 70% of those being bittersweet and bitter varieties.  These are used to produce cider products, primarily Pays d’Auge cider and poiré, pommeau, and Pays d’Auge Calvados. The property has numerous half-timbered buildings (some of which date to the 16th century), a unique manor house built into the hillside, and a small museum that explains their production.

On large expanses of land and under the tall trees, 70 dairy cows graze. The rich milk from this herd is sold to a creamery in nearby Boissey who use it in their Livarot and Pont l’Eveque cheeses.

For their calvados, the juice is pressed and fermented into cider, then double-distilled in their small pot still and aged in one of several cellars. Their Fine calvados is aged in old oak barrels for three years. From its pale color comes aromas of green apple along with a lick of vanilla.  At 45% ABV, this is an ideal calvados to be used in cocktails or between courses as a trou normand.   

Stéphane Grandval