Tom Rodriguez was convinced that Virginia apples could produce sparkling apple ciders as fruity and complex as the ones he had enjoyed in Normandy and Brittany. After retirement from an international champagne, wine and spirits house, he designed a business to market the effervescent apple cider he remembered.
During twenty years of corporate division management and marketing, he traveled regularly throughout the middle Atlantic region tracing many miles through the apple orchards of northwestern Virginia. His background expertise in champagne and sparkling wine led him to consider the high acid level of eastern apple production - that same level of acidity being one of the factors that make good sparkling wines. His proprietary cuvee of several orchard varietals was infused with bubbles to create Le Mousseux, a gourmet sparkling apple cider - a non-alcoholic champagne.
Apple butters and spreads, based on memories of his grandmother’s cooking, were a natural extension of the product line. His West Virginia grandmother’s handwritten recipes and notes in the margin of her cookbook were the source of this and other fruit combinations. The six that are now offered have been updated to modern cooking techniques. The huge cookpots over an outside fire are gone, but the home-cooked flavors are wonderful on toast, bagels, muffins, angel cake, pound cake, ice cream and a myriad of other combinations.
As his business grew, Tom added several personal favorite items to his product line. An accomplished cook, he frequently shares his own spicy cider vinegar and imported oils with friends. He included those along with his bean recipes and ingredients to the company offerings.
La Provencale Cellars is a gourmet apple products firm that brings several selections to the specialty foods market.
