Calvados
Pacory

Frédéric works with his wife Catherine, and has been joined in recent years by their son Simon, the 4th generation Pacory to farm. As with many of the Calvados producers we work with, the Pacorys are in polyculture, raising dairy cows in addition to fruit. On the morning of our most recent visit, as the team was hard at work hand-harvesting pears from a parcel of hundred-plus year old trees, the cows took turns leaving the barn for their morning post-milking roam.

The Pacorys’ focus on making beautiful, vinous poiré (cider made from pears), but also produce an small amount of Calvados each year. After harvest, the poiré intended for distilling is fermented and run through a traveling column still that the family shares with their neighbors Martine and Didier Lemorton (yes, those Lemortons!).  As is the case for most brandy from the region, it is run through the still just one time (the only double-distilled Calvados is found north in the Pays d’Auge by the English Channel) and comes out around 70% alcohol.

Unlike many other producers, Frederic has maintained a small selection of unreduced barrels across the farm's three small aging cellars. The younger high-proof vintages have become something of a cult favorite for certain San Francisco and New York bartenders in recent years. We were attracted to their older juice, in the 15 to 24 year range, and have recently made the first-ever single barrel picks that the domaine has bottled!