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Lesuffleur
Paris during the week, Normandy at the weekend: Benoit Lesuffleur lives a double life that characterises his cider. As a wine agent, he represents houses such as Tarlant and Fourrier, but his passion belongs to his family's apple trees in the Pays d'Auge. Since 2012, he has been transforming this experience into ciders of remarkable precision. Three years on the lees, spontaneous fermentation, biodynamic cultivation on chalk and flint soils. Cows graze between hundred-year-old trees. His ciders can be found on the menus of L'Arpège and NOMA - where enjoyment becomes discovery. Only 15,000 bottles per year, each one an expression of a quiet revolution.
More about Lesuffleur
The wine agent who makes cider
If you want to understand Benoit Lesuffleur, you need to know his diary: From Monday to Friday, he is in Paris, visiting sommeliers and restaurants, representing some of the finest wineries in France - including Tarlant in the Champagne region. On Friday evening, he gets on the train to Caen. What he learnt from the winegrowers - the importance of the terroir, the precision in the cellar, the patience in ageing - He transfers this to his family's cider production.
His grandfather Roger was the first Lesuffleur to sell cider commercially. His father Gilbert planted new orchards in La Folletière in 1996. Benoit himself returned in 2012 to reinterpret the family work. The inspiration came from Tarlant: If champagne can be made this way, why not cider?
Two floors, two characters
The 20 hectares of the Domaine are spread over two distinct sites. In La Folletière Low trunks dominate over brown flint and chalk - this is where the apples for the eponymous Cuvée La Folletière. The orchard Friardel on the other hand, is home to ancient standard trees, some over a hundred years old: only 100 to 150 trees per hectare, rooted in blue flint. The Cuvée Friardel carries this depth in every bottle.
Benoit has been farming organically since 2012, using biodynamic practices. Cows from his parents' farm graze seasonally between the trees and beehives promote biodiversity. No chemical interventions that could level out the differences in the soils.
Three generations in one glass
About 25 historical apple varieties grow on the Domaine - Mettais, Fréquin, Rambeau, Bedan, Binet Rouge. The cuveés follow a precise logic: acidic varieties for freshness, bittersweet for fullness, tannin-rich for structure. Only the best ten per cent of the fruit makes it into the bottles.
The cuvée Pyrrhus tells a family story: one third consists of grandfather Roger's favourite bitter variety, one third of father Gilbert's sour variety and one third of Benoit's own bittersweet preference. A flavourful synthesis of three generations in one glass.
Patience as a method
After the harvest - each apple is checked by hand - the must ferments spontaneously with wild yeasts. The traditional Keeving method slows down fermentation. Then Méthode ancestrale: bottle fermentation without added sugar. What follows sets Lesuffleur apart from almost all others: At least three years of yeast storage. A period of time that even ambitious champagne houses would respect.
Disgorging is done by hand. The limited quantities - only 15,000 bottles per year - are a consequence of the method. The Cerqueux Poiré, made from pears from the uncle's property, shows the same signature. Ciders and poirés that prove it: This drink can be much more than a nostalgic accompaniment to galettes.