Domaine de
Rugueville

Nicolas Flambard, grower and producer in Portbail, Normandy, sells his apple-based products on the estate. These include cider, Pommeau, Calvados, apple juice, apple cider vinegar…
As these beverages are produced using careful craft methods, some boast certifications such as AOP Contentin Cider or organic apple juice.

As on many farms in Normandy, passing on savoir-faire is part of the tra­di­tion. It was there­fore only nat­ur­al that Nic­olas Flam­bard would take over the busi­ness cre­ated by his father, Chris­ti­an, in 2017. In the 90s, Chris­ti­an had acquired 5 hec­tares of farm­land sur­round­ing the house, which marked the begin­nings of the farm. Apple trees were planted: high stem and low stem trees of dif­fer­ent tra­di­tion­al cider apple vari­et­ies, and he began pro­du­cing crat cider, Pom­meau and Calvados. In 2009, Chris­ti­an con­ver­ted the farm to organ­ic agri­cul­ture. He installed birds nests for tits, intro­duced lady­birds to avoid the use of pesti­cides, and set up bee­hives to pol­lin­ate the apple trees. Today, Nic­olas is at the helm of the farm which con­tin­ues to respect tra­di­tion, nature and con­sumers. Domaine de Rugueville is one of around ten Normandy pro­du­cers who pro­duce AOP (PDO) Cotentin cider. This craft cider made from local vari­et­ies has a dis­tinct terroir fla­vour which is slightly bitter and tart. It is 100% pure juice and nat­ur­ally spark­ling, without the addi­tion of gas or any pasteurisation.