With eyes sparkling like cider, which he turns into a treasure trove of eaux-de-vie, Guillaume Drouin lives in a paradise where biting into an apple is no sin. On the edge of Pont-l’Evêque (Calvados), its picturesque farm with its numerous half-timbered buildings stands out as one of the most beautiful testimonies to the architectural heritage of the Pays d’Auge. It is not the famous square cheese that brings us to this green and hilly Normandy, fifteen minutes from Deauville, but the equally famous calvados. Between the apple trees with their impossibly tall trunks, the thatched roof, and the stream of Touques that winds through the property, Christian Drouin’s home welcomes 35,000 visitors each year.
For more than a year, they can even extend their visit to the distillery with lunch in the Pré-Verger, a creperie tea room that looks like a dining room, with a stately Norman wardrobe, ceiling beams and a fireplace in winter. On the menu: buckwheat pancakes decorated with andouille de Vire, Camembert or other local specialties, sweet crepes, teurgoule or tarte Tatin. And, to accompany all this, a glass of cider, perry or calvados. “There is no better way to promote our product,” smiles Guillaume Drouin, the third generation to lead this family business which is a world reference.
Next to the restaurant, a room displaying various awards bears witness to this reputation. “This year, we surpassed 300 medals, proudly proclaims the host. He’s my grandfather (company founder in 1960) who began displaying his calvados in various competitions. »
“Mozart who is still silent”
At that time, senior Christian Drouin ran a fertilizer business in Rouen and calvados production was just a hobby for him. He bought a farm in Gonneville-sur-Honfleur, north of the Pays d’Auge. “At first, he just wanted to sell his apples, said Guillaume Drouin, except that their careful harvest costs more than the sale itself. » A lover of calvados, but not knowing much about distilling, he hired the services of a local legend in the field, Pierre Pivet, a traveling distiller nicknamed “the Mozart of the still.”
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