« When I told my friends from Bordeaux that I was packing my bags in Normandy, they laughed out loud. “. An agronomist and oenologist by training, Marie-Luce Thiery Labiausse knows this. Since it settled in Calvados to produce both cider and wine, the microcosm has grown. Whatever. She prefers to prune her furrow, her apple orchards and her 6,000 freshly planted vines.
The first bottles from his La Fresnée estate will only reach maturity in three or four years. But this former cellar manager who traveled from Aquitaine to Champenois is convinced: Normandy vines have a future. “ In a few years, we will have the climate of the Pays de Loire and then, we have pretty hillsides here ».
Back to the future
The farmer is one of more than thirty winegrowers, novices or experienced, who have put down roots in the bocage since the Ministry of Agriculture opened new planting rights in 2016. Or rather re-rooted because the vine was a long time a local pride, as Edouard Capron likes to remind us, president of the young association of Vignerons de Normandie and himself a winegrower not far from Rouen under the Saint Expedit appellation. “ Normandy was one of the great wine-growing regions in the 18th century before the vineyards were decimated by disease and competition from southern wines. ».
Three centuries later, a new generation is taking up the torch, attracted by the promises of climate change. From Giverny to Barneville-Carteret and from the Bray region to the Auge valley, intrepid and passionate thirty-somethings, including several cider growers in search of diversification, are creating their cellars. As a result, the vineyard, although tiny compared to those in the South, has still quadrupled in size in two years, going from 20 to 80 hectares. Enough to count on at least 100,000 bottles in 2026, white or sparkling in the vast majority of cases.
The Saint Expedit winery in Freneuse (DR credits)
“A laboratory vocation”
A particular sign is that many of these new producers have opted for hybrid varieties (non-GMO), known to be more resistant to diseases and less demanding in phytosanitary products. Grape varieties little used elsewhere due to the normative straitjacket of IGP and AOC. “ This gives Normandy the role of an open-air laboratory which arouses the curiosity of other regions. », notes Maxime Gazeau, development manager within the Winegrowers’ association.
Edouard Capron also observes signs of interest coming from other regions. “ La Safer (Land development and rural settlement companies) reports being contacted by people from the Loire region “, he says. The fact remains that, for the moment, almost no Norman winemaker makes a living from his vintages even if a handful of them have managed to carve out a place for themselves on large tables, like Ludovic Messiers established by the sea at above Le Havre. “ We all have a double or triple activity. The advantage is that we form a very close-knit collective that helps each other because we have a lot to demonstrate », constate Marie Luce Thiery Labiausse.
As for hoping to see a grand cru emerge from the bocage, no one dares to predict it at this stage. “ What we aim for first of all is very high quality. In any case, it is certain that Norman wine will remain a niche for a long time to come. », theorizes Maxime Gazeau. A guarantee of this lucidity, the website of the winegrowers’ association opens with this now famous adage from Edmond de Rotschild. “ The hardest part in viticulture is the first two centuries ».
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