The enterprise

It is in Frelighsburg, on one of Quebec’s oldest orchards, that Louise Dupuis and Christian Barthomeuf took the first steps back in 2002 that would bring about the creation of Clos Saragnat. The orchard and now vineyard occupy an area 35 hectares at an altitude of 220 meters on the south flank of Mount Pinacle; a sentinel of the Appalachian mountain chain, located a mere mile from the Vermont (U.S.A) border, on the 45th parallel, hence benefitting from the best possible exposure for growing fruit.                                 Read more.

Growing

In 1996, a large scale study carried out by the AOAC concluded the following: - 21% of market grapes contain at least 20 different residual pesticides, - 22% of apples contain 18, - 50% of strawberries contain 14, and, - 2% of apples, 3% of grapes and 21% of strawberries don’t even fall within guidelines. In fact, these pesticides are detected in almost all fruit and vegetables grown in accordance with modern agricultural methods. What then might be said of wine and cider made from these grapes and apples? This being an even more pointed question when one takes into account the high concentration of fruit found in ice ciders and ice wines.   Read more

Harvesting

In 2009, all our grapes were harvested in mid-October in view of exclusively producing straw wine. The grapes were laid to slowly dry for a period of 6 months and pressing began at the beginning of March this year. The wine itself will be ready in the spring of 2011. We began harvesting the frozen apples on December 6th by -10° Celsius and ended a few days before Christmas. A rather promising vintage will be ready by the end of 2012.   See more

Shopping
	For sale in 2010: Ice Cider 2006  200 ml :                             25,00 $ Aperitif cider L'amer..., 500 ml :                 19,50 $ Aperitif cider 5 years, L'apéro..., 500 ml :  33,50 $ Ice Wine 2005, 200 ml :                    40,00 $ Pommes des bois 2000, 200 ml :               38,50 $ Read more   Ice Cider Avalanche 2007, 200ml                       SAQ, code # 11133221         26,85$

	We are happy to welcome you to our on-site boutique weekdays and weekends from 10 am to 5 pm, starting Victoria Day through until Thanks Giving weekend (Canadian). From then on, until December 31st, we are open on weekends, again, from 10 am until 5 pm.

A bit of hisrory...

Christian Barthomeuf first made ice cider during the winter of 1990, thus marking ice cider’s first vintage. The product itself was further produced in Dunham, under the label Pomelière, from 1992 until 1996. But regulating bodies refused to recognize the designation of Ice Cider as such, constraining this new product to familiar denominations such as liquorous cider, strong cider or even strong sweet cider. By the end of 1996, Christian had been hired as a consultant by the Pouvac orchard of Hemmingford, with the specific mandate of setting up a cidery and further developing this so-called ice cider that Quebec was starting to hear about. The orchard was renamed La Face Cachée de la Pomme (the hidden side of the apple), and both Neige (snow) and Frimas (frost) are now established ice ciders. Only in July of 1999, was La Cidrerie St-Nicholas, of St-Nicholas, Quebec, finally granted permission to use the designation of Ice Cider. It had taken a full 10 years for this marvelous product to be fully recognized for what it was and given the name it rightfully deserved. The designation Ice Cider therefore appears with the 1998 vintage, bottled in 1999. In the year 2000, Le Domaine Pinnacle was a Frelighsburg-based start-up company that owned an orchard. Christian was brought on board to steer an idea and once again create what was quickly becoming recognized as a specialty liqueur: Ice Cider. Over the next four years, Le Domaine Pinnacle grew at an astounding rate and, in so doing, brought ice cider to the world stage. In 2004, whilst furthering product development, Christian created the first sparkling ice cider under the Domaine Pinnacle banner. Parallel to his work with Domaine Pinnacle, in 2002 Louise Dupuis and Christian Barthomeuf establish their own domain; Clos Saragnat, also set in Frelighsburg. As they reclaimed an abandoned orchard, they sought to develop their own ice cider that truly relies upon a hand-picked frozen-on-the-tree harvest, grown within an organic framework. In 2007, the « Fundacion de la Sidra » et el « Museo de la Sidra » of Spain was the first to recognize and honor the invention of Ice Cider, acknowledging Mr. Barthomeuf with the 2007 Premio award. Similar recognition came with a declaration in the House of Commons, in Ottawa, followed one year later by the Mondial du Cidre de Glace 2008, held yearly in Quebec. 2008 culminated with Christian winning his 45th gold medal award for wine making; be it ice wine or ice cider. Further recognition came his way whence invited to Ottawa for an official dinner attended by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, after which he was invited to meet Prince Charles.

The making of Ice Cider

There are essentially two techniques to making ice cider:

 1 - Cryoconcentration (cold-freeze concentration)
With this technique, Ice cider is made from apples that have been picked when ripe, in the fall, and kept in cold storage until mid-December or January. Once the cold winter nights are well upon us, the fruit will be pressed and the juice exposed to seasonal temperatures until completely frozen. Water being lighter in weight and freezing before sugar; the must can be extracted through a gravitational process and vatted to ferment. Because the apples are picked in the fall rather than later, any variety of apple may be used to make the cider. Most Ice Ciders are indeed made by cryo-concentration.

2 - Cryoextraction (cold-press extraction)
Apples are left in the trees throughout the fall, and will be picked only whence the weather has provided us with three consecutive nights of -10° C. Apples, by then frozen to the core, will be picked and immediately pressed. No more apples will be picked than can be pressed while the temperature remains freezing, as they must not be allowed to thaw while in queue!

One’s yearly output is therefore completely dependent upon the weather; 2006 allowed for no more than 2 consecutive days of picking and pressing, whereas 2007 gave us two full weeks and our best yield in a decade. This of course in view of the fact that at least 50 average sized apples are needed to yield a liter of cider; thus translating into 18 or 19 apples per 375ml bottle, and about 10 per 20ml bottle. This technique certainly turns the making of Ice Cider into a labor of love, noticeable in the taste itself; revealing a more refined and complex pallet.

This endeavor is further complicated by the fact the many of the easier-to-grow commercial varieties of apples simply cannot hold the fruit in the trees beyond ripening. As they did for Newton; whence To embrace this technique of cider making is to make the commitment to planting an orchard specifically designed to this end; that is to say, choosing varieties of trees capable of withholding fruit well beyond ripening, into winter months. A little known fact is that during any given apple growing season, commercial growers can spray trees to avoid the apples falling to the ground should they be behind schedule in harvesting. (An apple on the ground is worth less than 25% of an apple picked from the tree).

Clos Saragnat chose the latter approach. The orchard was re-planted, in great part with indigenous apple trees that we patiently hunted down along road sides, in forests, private collections and eventually, from specialized growers. Our orchard now garners some very old varieties, many forgotten, some wild and some newly developed, however, all showing two main traits: the capacity to hold their fruit through December, and being highly disease resistant given that we use neither fungicidal nor pesticidal sprays on our crops.

Ice Cider outside:

- Marché des Saveurs à Montréal (Marché Jean Talon)
- Yannick Fromagerie - Dollard-des-Ormeaux (Marché de l'Ouest)
- Comptoir Espace Gourmand à Boucherville

- Restaurant Laloux - Bistro, Montréal
- Restaurant le Jolifou, Montréal
- Restaurant Cocagne, Montréal
- Bouchonné, Montréal
- Auberge du mange grenouille, Le Bic
- Le Club Chasse et pêche, Montréal
- M sur Masson, Montreal
- Café Méliès, Montréal
- Cinquième Péché, Montréal
- Chez l'Épicier, Montréal
- Pullman - Montréal
- Le Moine échanson, Québec
- Yuzu Sushi Bar, Québec
- Club 357C, Montréal
- Les Cons Servent - Montréal
- DNA Restaurant - Montréal
- Restaurant Toqué - Montréal
- Restaurant Vauvert - Montréal
- Pistou - Montréal
- Auguste - Sherbrooke
- Brasserie Dieu du Ciel - Montréal
- L'Affiche - Montréal
- Le Vin Levain - Montreal

- Marché Tradition - Frelighsburg

-  SAQ - Cidre de Glace "Avalanche 2007" - code # 11133221

Sales and export:

Canada, USA and France:
Cyril Kérébel - La QV inc. 514-504-5082

Lebanon, Jordan, Dubaï, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom::
3g Groupe Général ; 514-995-7779

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Where to sleep in our area

Frelighsburg: Domaine des Chutes,  Au Chant de l'Onde

Pigeon Hill: L'École buissonnière

Dunham: Auberge des Vignobles "Aux Douces Heures"