Maison Kalder - Poiré Léna - Extra Brut 2024
In Sainte-Marie-du-Bois, in the north of Mayenne, Maison Kalder stands out as one of the most exciting names in the revival of great French ciders and perries. Alexandre Sidorenko, an oenologist trained in Bordeaux, works on an 11-hectare estate composed exclusively of high-stem trees, managed as a true living landscape rather than just a simple fruit production. Apple and pear trees thrive on an east-facing schist slope, at about 200 meters altitude, in a meadow-orchard system where eco-grazing, biodiversity, and the slow ripening of the fruits play an essential role. The organic and biodynamic approach gives the juices a deeply artisanal identity, with a pursuit of purity, substance, and bubble finesse. At Kalder, cider and perry are approached with winemaker precision, in a logic of terroir, vintage, and texture. Léna Extra Brut 2024 belongs to this rare category of gastronomic perries, capable of surpassing the light and simply fruity image sometimes associated with this drink. It is a cuvée of great delicacy but also true structure, designed for the table as much as for the aperitif.
Léna is made mainly from three old and endemic varieties from Domfrontais: Plant de Blanc, Fossey, and de Cloche. These late pears are harvested at full maturity, then left on the ground, in the grass, for between ten days and a month to continue their natural refinement. Each variety is picked and vinified separately before blending is done mid-fermentation, a choice that preserves the personality of each fruit while building the final balance of the perry. The slow vertical pressing, done with a traditional Norman press, produces juices of great precision without harsh extraction. Fermentation proceeds slowly, without adding exogenous yeasts or sulfur, with four to five rackings conducted according to the lunar calendar. The perry is unfiltered and bottled by gravity, in an approach that preserves the natural finesse of the fruit and the purity of the juice. The 2024 vintage thus offers a very elegant extra-brut expression, where sugars remain discreet and the bubbles accompany the substance without ever weighing it down.
The color presents a bright pale yellow, sometimes slightly cloudy, with fine and delicate effervescence. The nose immediately evokes fresh pear, pear skin, white flower, quince, then more subtle notes of sweet lemon, fresh grass, and wet stone. On the palate, the attack is airy, almost crystalline, but the pear wine has enough substance never to seem fragile. The bubbles are fine, the sugar very measured, and the balance rests on a clear freshness, a delicately fruity texture, and a dry, salivating finish, slightly chalky in its expression. Léna 2024 stands out for its ability to unite aroma, purity, and precision, with an elegance that makes it a true gastronomic cuvée. It will pair remarkably with scallop carpaccio with citrus, meaty oysters, sea bream ceviche, poultry with light cream, soft cheese, or a lightly sweet dessert around pear, almond, or lemon. Served around 8 to 10°C, in a fairly fine but not closed glass, it will reveal all the subtlety of its bubbles, its freshness, and that vinous dimension that makes Maison Kalder unique.
Pear varieties: Plant de Blanc, Fossey, de Cloche
