Etienne Dupont Organic Cidre Bouché Brut de Normandie

Brewed by Domaine Familial Louis Dupont
Style: Cider
Victot-Pontfol, France

Appearance: As best I can tell, it’s a hazed orangey-copper body sans head. On-tap at the Brick Store Pub in Atlanta, it comes served in an adorable Etienne Dupont tea cup. Smell: Whoo! After such "lite" ciders, this is quite a surprise. The earthy, musty, and downright barnyard funk you’d find lurking in a lambic. Beyond that, there’s a strong bandage scent which, after checking out some of the other reviews, seems to be hit or miss on differing vintages. Taste: Beyond-ripe apples with a heavily yeasty, funk-filled taste throughout, like horseblankets from a haunted house built atop an indian burial ground. Brief hint of flowery, herby bitterness. Quick flash of salt. Some mildly sweet notes of apple preserves show up on the finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Almost no carbonation. Drinkability: Far removed from it’s fizzy, alcopop brethren, it shows what is possible with a handful of apples and alot of heart (and maybe a tea cup).

750ml, 2005 vintage. Hazy, almost hefeweizen body with a small spritzy white head. I get mostly tart apple and yeast in the nose, maybe some lingering honey or other sweet sensations. Fairly interesting body with both sweet and tart apple combined with some decent acid and dry finish makes it one of the more complex ciders I have had.

Name: Cidre Bouche
Date: 09/29/2007
Mode: Draft
Source: Brick Store Pub

opaque orange, short lived frothy off white head, rich apple sauce aroma with a granny smity tartness and a brown sugar sweetness, creamy body, really mild flavor with the apple character slowing building to a rich apple flavor, light tartness balances the touch of sweetness,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.3/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **+/4

Served in a truly memorable tea cup @BSP. Nose of strong fermented apples, on the palate very smooth with honeysuckle, slight menthol finish, a very interesting cider. Quite unlike anything else I had tasted.

2003 750mL bottle drunk on 5/26/07
Interestingly enough, I had the non-organic version of the same year, though it was only 2 years old, vs. this 4 year old bottle. I certainly can’t tell the difference from the organic and non-organic version, but obviously, the difference in age made the difference in flavor. I think this one is probably best around 2 years old, as it was just a touch tired at 4 years, with tons of dryness and a little bit of paperiness on the finish. That being said, it was still absolutely delicious, and full of fun wild yeast notes. Never overdone in barrel character, the wood only adds a moderate layer of complexity that does not outdo the apples. Lots of vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and cheesy lacto character, with a champagne-like effervescence and quenching body.
Lacing is provided as well, and the clear liquid shines a brilliant gold with a thin white head perched atop that falls quickly, just like champagne.
With age, also, comes stronger, more earthy flavors and aromas, gaining more "farmy" character and less clear brett, lacto, oak delineations. Quite well-homogenized in to one big wild, sweaty, cheesy apple concoction. Moderate sweetness still exists. It’s incredible to see how they’ve managed to keep some residual sugar from being eaten by the critters. Moderately acidic finish may be a bit too aggressive, but is certainly nothing unusual for the style. Splendid as always from Dupont.

(750ml bottle, 2005 vintage) Hazy straw body with small white head. Aroma is medium sweet, tart/green apple, some pear, light honey, yeast. Taste is medium sweet, apple (some tart, some sweet), light dryness in the finish. Effervescent light-medium body.

Sour nose like green apples, clear gold color. Sophisticated cider flavor, hint of year, with a Pez-like aftertaste. Classy drink.

2003 bottle. Pour is initially effervescent gold with no head, that becomes a murky mustard brown when the yeast is poured in. Mildy tart apple banana aroma, slightly funky brett perhaps, cinnamon. More tart in the flavor, yeast plays a fairly prominent role the further you get in the bottle.

One sentence to describe this experience:
Mildly funky and tart apple flavor is dulled down by muddy yeast and a lack of energy.