Producer—Pierre-Henri Agnes

La Chouette—which means “the Owl” in French—refers to the surprising bond between this elusive night bird and French cider. Traditionally, many farmers in the northwest of France made their own cider with apples from their orchards. Often, the farmers made their cider in barns, where the owls could be seen watching over the production from their perches under the roof. Thus La Chouette has always looked after French cider and continues to look over our cider today.

Located near the stunning Mont Saint-Michel World Heritage site, La Chouette is produced in the cradle of France’s cider-making region. Cider-making has been a part of Pierre-Henri Agnes’ family tradition for three generations. Like Norman farmers of their time, both of Pierre-Henri’s grandfathers crafted traditional farmhouse cider (“cidre bouché”) with cider apples from their orchards or by buying cider apples and using the services of a mobile cider press and mobile Calvados still (a very popular approach in the 1940s to 1970s). When Pierre-Henri and his friend Alex decided to launch their cider company, Pierre-Henri remembered the story of an owl that would fly over his grandfather’s farm and dwell under the roof in the main building where his grandfather would store the fermenting apple juice. That owl was Pierre-Henri’s inspiration for the brand, La Chouette, which means “the Owl” in French.

La Chouette is insistent on finding the perfect balance between sweetness and tartness by combining both sweet and bittersweet apples, in the purist tradition of French cider-making. La Chouette only uses dedicated cider apples (never table or eating apples), always uses 100% pure apple juice (not reconstituted apple juice), and has no added sugar, water, coloring, or flavoring. Using these traditional, authentic, French cider-making methods gives La Chouette a pristine apple taste.