Julien Frémont is a cider and Calvados in St-George-en-Auge. Situated in the heart of the Pay d'auge, the production is extremely traditional. The cider making process hasn't changed here since the early 1700s - and using the same beautiful wooden press that the family has owned from the start. The only differences between the old way and Julien's way is that he prefers dry cider and the traditional approach was to make sweet cider in this region. Julien tends his orchard using organic and biodynamic principles. Cows graze between the trees to keep the ground cover healthy. After he hand-harvests the apples they are carried to the apple loft in an ancient farmhouse that dominates property. Using a 'home made' pulley system the apples are hoisted to the top of the "grenier" where he 'cures' them for at least a month and sometimes for many months so that the flavours concentrate as the apples dry out. Very few people still use this process as it's extremely labor intensive and it dramatically reduces the juice yield when the apples are finally pressed but significantly improves the flavour of the cider. We find his ciders immensely satisfying and beautifully crafted and he uses no additions. No sulphites are added at any time. There are also some oxidative notes to his cider as the wooden barrels he uses are over 100 years old. This adds even more complexity to the finished product.