Wines

La Ferme d’Hotte’s Brut Tradition is produced from the main four apple varieties of the farm, which are pressed immediately after harvesting, then fermented spontaneously in stainless steel. Bottled for secondary fermentation several months after the harvest, the bubbles are formed via the addition of a small amount of unfermented and unfiltered apple juice to the still-sweet cider just before being capped. The finished product ends up with about 25 grams per liter of residual sugar, a super-low pH of 3.3 to 3.5, and a natural alcohol level of 6.5%. The flavor profile of the “Brut Tradition” is explosive and expansive—a rush of tangy apple flesh, intermingling low tones of fresh caramel with intense, almost prickly spices, and shot through with an unmistakable note of gunflint. The cider’s supple sweetness and bristling acidity are intertwined beautifully, putting one in the mind of a great Vouvray “Sec-Tendre,” yet with an irresistible thread of gusty rusticity.

Named after a legendary figure from the Middle Ages who dwelled in the forests of the Pays d’Othe, Boemius is a selection of the best juice from each harvest, typically comprising six apple varieties from throughout the family’s orchards, with production topping off at 15,000 bottles per year. Contrary to the ancient method employed for the “Brut Tradition,” this is produced in the same manner as Champagne, and spends two years on its lees before disgorgement. Carrying around 25 grams per liter of residual sugar and 6.5% alcohol, Boemius reads as drier and sleeker than the Brut Tradition, yet with a more profound mineral-inflected funk, as well as an undertone of new leather. Structurally concentrated and tensile, Boemius should blossom even further with a bit of bottle age.