Domaine Des Cinq Autels

Domaine des Cinq Autels Brut (5.3% ABV, 750ml). Organically certified. Only sulfites added. Pours a mildly hazy bright gold with a thin white head. Aroma of musty apples, some farmyard funk, mild lemon, grass, yeast. Medium body, modest carbonation. Tart sweet and sour apples, dust, green apple skins, mild funk, medium acidity on the palate. Finishes with sour green apples, yeast. Yeasty and lemony aftertaste. Again, more semi-dry than "brut" really, with a good apple-y nose but only moderately fruity palate. 7.5/10.

Comes in a 750 ml champagne bottle. Cloudy amber, with a pungent aroma of straw, old oak, and farmyard funk. Flavour is rich and complex, with strong oak and straw, and the tannic aftertaste gives way to funk and sawdust. Typical Normandy keeved cider, and a steal at the price I paid. The heavy carbonation was initially off-putting, but this died down to a more acceptable level surprisingly quickly. Worth a tasting, if you come across it.