Illustrated portraits of the five figures who shaped the history of Domaine des Cinq Autels

Since 1923

The story of a family in Normandy

One family, four generations, an estate organic since 1967.

The estate

An estate true to its history, looking to the future.

Before specializing in apple growing, the Cinq Autels farm lived on mixed farming (cereals, fodder) and a few animals. In 1984, it made cider its priority, without abandoning the organic legacy started by Maurice in 1967.

The course hasn't changed since: preserving biodiversity, on its land and beyond. In that same spirit, the family is among the founders of Biocer, an organic farming cooperative in Normandy.

Our story

Four generations,
one estate

1923 Abel

Abel settles with his family on the Cinq Autels land and founds the estate.

The early years are years of work and patience. The story could have ended abruptly during the Normandy landings, in 1944, when a shell fell from the sky and pierced the farmhouse roof. By luck, it came to rest in a bale of hay, without exploding. That hay, harvested a few months earlier, ended up saving the farm. Chance or a sign of fate: the family never forgot it. Protecting nature would become a mantra at the estate.
1967 Maurice

The estate converts to organic farming, among the first organic farms in France.

In the 1960s, pesticides take over the French countryside. Maurice, Abel's son, watches the damage caused by this intensive farming. He chooses the opposite path. He converts the whole farm to organic, long before the label exists. The estate becomes one of the first fully organic farms in France.
1984 Claude and Jean-René

The estate specializes in cider making: thirteen hectares of heritage apple varieties.

When Maurice retires, his son Jean-René and his wife Claude turn the farm into a cider estate. They plant thirteen hectares of heritage apple varieties. For thirty-five years, they search for the best in the fruit, convinced that a great cider needs no artifice. Through patience, they craft the estate's first organic ciders with no added sulfites.
2019 Thibault

The fourth generation modernizes the estate, with the ambition of carbon neutrality.

When Claude and Jean-René retire, Thibault takes over the family legacy. He brings in a cellar master and Nicolas, agroecology engineer. Together, they pursue two goals: crafting great organic ciders and leading the estate to carbon neutrality.