Domaine Lesuffleur Friardel 2020 (75cl, 5.5%)

Friardel is a dry, tannic cider from a single orchard in Friardel, Pays d'Auge, Normandy. The orchard's trees average fifty years and grow on blue flint over chalk. Half the blend is tannic cider apples, giving grip and a dry, almost vinous finish. It is made from 12 or more varieties, hand-picked and fermented with indigenous yeasts using keeving, with fermentation finished in bottle by the ancestral method. It spends 30 months on fine lees in bottle before disgorgement in March 2024. The style is dry, tannic and gastronomic, suited to roast duck, pork and washed-rind cheese.