Domaine Lesuffleur Pyrrhus Grand Cru 2020 (75cl, 5.5%)

Pyrrhus is a grand cru cider from Domaine Lesuffleur in Normandy. The name refers to a Greek warrior whose victories alternated with defeats, and the cuvée unites the favourite apple variety of each of three Lesuffleur generations in equal parts. One third comes from just four ancient high-branch trees planted by the grandfather. When the harvest allows, production peaks at roughly 200 bottles a year, making it the rarest bottle the domaine makes. The blend is 33% sweet, 33% sharp and 33% tannic. It is hand-picked, fermented with indigenous yeasts using keeving, with fermentation finished in bottle by the ancestral method. It ages for 30+ months on fine lees in bottle and was disgorged in March 2024. The style is layered and complete, with sweet fruit, cut and structure in one glass, and it is suggested to decant like a fine wine.