Military history and Culinary traditions The people of Normandy, France meet in a beautiful and secret location behind the walls of a 12th century castle, just a short distance from D-Day historic sites Omaha Beach and Pointe du Hoc.
Bernard Labrecque makes some of Normandy’s most wonderful ciders and a superb calvados – apple brandy – at his family farmhouse in the village of Anglesqueville-la-Percée.
He serves samples of his wine, after which second World War It’s an amazing story that draws guests from all over the world. Their stone-walled tasting room also serves as a small museum, housing artifacts from D-Day.
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The long-awaited liberation of Europe unfolded dramatically around Labrecque’s home and apple orchards on June 6, 1944, 80 years ago.
“My uncle is a passionate guy,” Jonathan Amblanc said of LeBrecque’s devotion to cooking and D-Day lore in a phone interview with Fox News Digital.
Bernard Labrecque makes rustic Norman cider and Calvados, a flavored apple brandy, at his eponymous farmhouse distillery in Normandy, France. It’s located between the D-Day invasion sites Omaha Beach and Pointe du Hoc. American troops attack two German strongholds on June 6, 1944. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)
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He recently opened the L’Ephème restaurant in the shadow of the turrets of the 12th-century castle. The Labrecque family has owned the property since 1922.
American troops heroically attacked Omaha Beach, about two miles east of the LeBreck farmhouse, amid deadly firefights in what went down in history as “The Longest Day.”
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The scene of the carnage at Omaha Beach was graphically recreated for recent audiences in the 1998 World War II epic “Saving Private Ryan.”
Pointe du Hoc is even closer, about a mile to the west. US Army Rangers Ladders and ropes attached to hooks were used to climb up the sheer face of the protruding beach cliff.
A signboard outside a typical farmhouse cider-maker near the D-Day invasion beaches in Normandy, France. Local distilleries in Normandy make Calvados, an apple brandy; Pommeau, an apple-flavored aperitif; and bubbly hard cider. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)
The German defenders fired bullets and dropped grenades on the fearless American Rangers from above.
President Ronald Reagan In his “Boys of Pointe du Hoc” speech on 6 June 1984, the 40th anniversary of D-Day, he expressed the heroism of that day.
“My uncle (Bernard Labrecque) is a passionate person.”
“When one ranger fell, another would take his place. When a rope was cut, the ranger would grab the other rope and start climbing again,” Reagan said, standing atop the rock. Surviving Rangers Sitting in front of him.
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“These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the guys who took over the rocks. These are the champions who helped liberate a continent.”
The Labrecque family has owned the nearby farmhouse since 1922. Its castle and surrounding apple orchards were hit by deadly D-Day shelling.
Commemorative bottles of Norman cider celebrating the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Rustic hard cider is a centuries-old culinary tradition in Normandy, France. The D-Day Experience Museum shop in Carentan-les-Marais, Normandy. May 28, 2024. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The American liberators drove out the Germans who had occupied the Lebrec farmhouse for the past several years.
The US Army’s 147th Combat Engineer Battalion, which had just arrived at Omaha Beach, immediately attacked and converted the palace into a command post.
Engineers uprooted the Lebrec apple trees with astonishing speed. In a matter of days, the family’s fruit-filled orchard became an airfield for American fighter planes. The warplanes helped push the liberators further inland as the Germans retreated.
An improvised airfield built shortly after D-Day, used by American and Allied forces in Normandy, France, June/July 1944. (Ullstein Bild/Ullstein Bild via Getty Images)
A monument dedicated to the engineers of the 147th Regiment stands proudly in the spacious courtyard of Lebrec’s house, within its medieval walls.
In the deadly Battle of Normandy that followed D-Day, American and Allied forces advanced inland, often celebrating victory by opening bottles of local liquor specialties.
“These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc … these are the champions who helped liberate a continent.”
France is famous for its wine.
But Normandy, a coastal province in the far northwestern corner of the country, is generally too cool to grow sun-fed grapes. So Norman farmers grow apples.
The cuisine of Normandy is similar to that of New England, another seaside region across the Atlantic. Fresh seafood, dairy and apples It traditionally enhances the taste of local food in both parts of the world.
Bernard Labrecque cider-maker and distillery in Normandy, France is located in the family farmhouse behind the walls of a 12th-century castle. This small cider-maker is located between two major D-Day sites, Omaha Beach and Pointe du Hoc. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)
Distillers like Labrecque, and many others in Normandy, turn those apples into a rustic, highly evocative hard cider.
It is spontaneously fermented in the bottle, much like champagne, and is packed with rich earthy flavors that reflect the local soil and climate.
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Terroir in Normandy, at least in the rural seaside area around Omaha Beach, means barn aromas with hints of cut hay and the ever-present salty smell as a reminder that the sea is just behind the next farm.
The Norman version is a real farmhouse cider, served in a corked bottle. It tastes and pours like apple-flavored champagne.
Norman cider is different from British, Irish or American cider Mass-produced cidersWhich are less sweet and less shiny.
The Norman version is a real farmhouse cider, served in a corked bottle. It tastes and pours like apple-flavored champagne.
Most Norman distillers also make Calvados, an aromatic but invigorating drink. Apple Spiritand Pommeau, a refreshing aperitif. It is a mixture of Calvados and apple juice.
Bernard Labrecque and other cider makers and distillers in Normandy, France, are serving the region’s traditional local apple wine to visitors from around the world for the 80th anniversary of D-Day on June 6, 2024. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital; Artur Vidak; NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Calvados isn’t just the name of a Norman brandy.
It’s actually the name of the Normandy region that saw most of the fighting on D-Day, including Omaha Beach.
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Calvados, the spirit, is made in Calvados, the region, just as Champagne is made in Champagne.
Bernard Labrecque’s family farmhouse near Omaha Beach produces and sells wine made from local apples, and also houses a museum of D-Day artifacts and a memorial to the U.S. Army engineers who transformed the area around the family’s farm into an aircraft landing strip almost overnight. (Kerry J. Byrne/Fox News Digital)
Meanwhile, the Labrecque family’s new restaurant, L’Ephèmere, offers a blend of global flavours with local Norman traditions.
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