Julien Thurel

We are in Loury, in the Loiret department, on the edge of the Orléans forest. Julien Thurel is a young enthusiast who, for several years now, has been putting all his energy into the 14 hectares of orchards to take up the challenge of taking ciders and perries out of their traditional consumption.

His commitment is not new, as he started this work philosophy in 2013 in Organic Agriculture. Here, as with his friends(Antoine Marois, Jérôme Forget, Johanna Cécillon, Damien Lemasson, Cyril Zangs, Bixintxo Aphaule...), Julien works with his fruit trees like a winemaker to reveal the terroirs of a vintage. And by carrying out all the operations as naturally as possible, of course:

• Harvested only by hand, in several passes and by variety on orchards, 30 to 60 years old, growing mainly in flinty clay.
• Classification of varieties in wooden crates and over-ripening adapted to each variety before pressing. Grating and gentle, slow pressing by variety.

• Fermentation with indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks for most of the cuvées (except for "Solstice" and "Esquisse" which are fermented in wooden barrels)
• All the vintages are naturally sparkling in the bottle.
• The cuvées are worked without sulphur, from pressing to bottling. Only the disgorged vintages may have a slight addition of sulphur at the time of bottling.

The Winery is certified in Organic Agriculture France and practices Agroecology: no ploughing of the soil for the establishment of the orchards, late mowing of the meadows under the orchard naturally sown, establishment of diversified hedges composed of melliferous species, enrichment of the humus of the soil, establishment of nesting boxes for cave birds, bats and insects...

More than a Winery, it is a real farm where cider, perry, honey, cydromel and royal jelly are produced.