Exquisite Griottines® Peureux!

How the Serbian sour cherry Oblacinska became a worldwide renowned Griottine?

August Peureux, who founded his liqueur distillery in Fougerolles, France in 1864, earned his reputation for his unbeatable kirsch liqueur. Still, he was willing to do something else with the fruits. To achieve his goal, he needed to find the perfect cherry for pitting: a round-shaped cherry with a very powerful taste whose stone will be easy to remove without damaging the fruit. 

Peureux family decided to go on the roads in the quest of such a specific ruby. After having visited farmers and going to markets in South of France and all over Europe, they came across someone in Italy who told them that one cherry grew in the wild in Serbia. There, they discovered the ideal fruits they were looking for and that Serbians did not really care about. 

Today, thousands of tons of these cherries, which grow only in the Caucasus, are turned into Griottines. They were registered as a trademark in 1980.

One-of-the-kind cherry and technology

This sour cherry Oblacinska distinguishes itself with its well-rounded shape and very firm texture, coming in a smaller caliber with a proportional smaller pit that does not attach to the flesh of the fruit.

Over 500 million wild Morello cherries are picked by hand exclusively as the fruit must absolutely be harvested without the stem. Once taken to the collection center, the cherries are washed and sorted out for the first time, then graded. Those which are not between 14 and 20 mm in diameter are not kept. When the time comes for the first maceration, the cherries are immersed in barrels full of Fourgerolles liqueur for six hours only to ensure that all the organoleptic characteristics are preserved. Due to a natural phenomenon of osmosis, the flavor of the cherries slowly changes during this process. After that stage, the cherries are sorted out and graded again in order to select only those with a 18-20 mm diameter this time. 

These one-of-a-kind cherries will then make the whole difference for the crucial stage of pitting which consists of removing their stones with a unique machine that is capable of positioning each cherry in such a way that the stone is removed through the scar of the stem. Thanks to this cutting-edge technology the fruit keeps its perfect well-rounded shape.

Fougerolles, capital of the Morello cherries

Grandes Distilleries Peureux could have satisfied themselves with the production of their registered Morello cherries and liqueurs they sell all over the world. 

Claude Peureux had launched wild morello cherries for chocolatiers in 1955, which were registered as Griottines® in the 1980s. In 2009, the company created Premium Gastronomie®, a unique organization dedicated to gastronomy and great chefs. Workshops, recipe books, and advice are offered to professionals. Later on, the visionary Bernard Baud pursued his ambitions for the company and opened Griottine® Institute; a ground-breaking store promoting excellence with a laboratory, a sales area and a demonstration room. A real success in the region which makes Fougerolles the capital of the Morello cherries more than ever!

Douce France is honored to work in partnership with the Grandes Distilleries Peureux to offer its customers some of their selection of Griottines, Framboisines and Cassis.



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