If there was a Grand Cru classification for cider, this would certainly be in there. From the same disastrous 2017 vintage, Jacques purchased one lot of acidic apples from a grandfather in Normandy who had old orchards planted haute-tige. This cider pushes it further than any when it comes to dryness and salinity. On first whiff, you’re hit with salty sea air. Once past this, you notice bitter apple skin aromas and cocktail bitters, but everything is still subtle and in the background. On the palate, the cider is delicately balanced with lovely persistent bubbles, and is entirely clear with what it wants to communicate. Like an exercise in subtraction, this cider proves the idea of less is more. What few elements are present speak louder than more could. Refined, like a masterful work of art. This cider was produced as a pet-nat, with ancestrale fermentation in bottle and no SO2 added. Each bottle was hand-riddled and disgorged in October of 2020. The label was drawn by Jacques’ niece Zoé.