Manoir de Grandouet

The Manoir de Grandouet is nestled in the tiny town of Grandouet, several miles from Cambremer in the center of the Pays d’Auge. Now run by third-generation distiller, Stephane Grandval, and his wife, Lucile, the property has grown to cover 23 hectares of apple trees of both hautes-tiges and basses-tiges (trees on both standard and dwarf rootstock). In classic Calvados fashion, the farm also boasts dairy cows, which are milked twice a day. Fruit is harvested by means of a machine commonly used for olive and plum trees; a giant umbrella envelops the tree, and the machine gently shakes the fruit loose so that it may fall into the canopy without being bruised. Both traditionalists and innovators, the Grandvals produce Calvados in this picturesque setting that has proven to be exuberant and exemplary.