Basic Info

Located in the Pays d’Othe, an expansive forest that sits between the Aube River in Champagne and the Yonne River in Burgundy, Frederic Goussin and his son-in-law Olivier Euillot are crafting all natural cider from an organic orchard of apple trees that are well over 100 years old – planted in 1900, the orchard from which Heritage 1900 is produced is named La Haie des Chevre. This is and has always been an orchard untouched by chemicals of any kind. Goussin makes his cider from thirteen different varietals of apple that reflect the deeply traditional nature of this cider. In keeping with the classical style of the ciderie, the ciders are made by méthode ancestrale and all bottles are disgorged by hand. Apples are hand-picked, generally in November, and then sorted twice to ensure that only the best fruit goes into the cider. The apples are then pressed in a vertical press with no SO2 and the juice is racked after 48 hours. Only indigenous yeasts are used during fermentation, which occurs in a fiberglass tank. The cider is bottled in the spring before it has completed alcoholic fermentation and is then laid down for 6-12 months so that the secondary fermentation can happen naturally, without the addition of dosage, as would occur in Pétillant Naturel. Disgorgement is performed manually and then the bottles are corked without the addition of liquer de triage. The resulting cider is refined and delicate and provides an excellent alternative to beer or wine.