Martin-Pouret – Gherkins and Mustard

Martin-Pouret – Master Vinegar Maker from Orléans

The Martin-Pouret vinegar manufactory has been a Maître Vinaigrier, a master vinegar maker, since 1797. It is the last vinegar house that produces its vinegar according to the traditional Orléanaise method. But let's start from the beginning: the French city of Orléans in the Loire Valley is not only known for Joan of Arc, but also historically closely linked to vinegar production due to its geographical location. The Loire River, which connects wine-growing regions such as Bordeaux with Paris, flows virtually through the center of the city. Thus, when wines were still transported in barrels by boat on the Loire to Paris, all the barrels whose wine had turned and transformed into vinegar were discarded here. About 200 years ago, there were around 300 vinegar producers in Orléans, who produced 80% of the vinegars in France. One of them was the Martin-Pouret vinegar manufactory. The foundations for the vinegar production method developed in Orléans, and thus the high quality of the products of the Brotherhood of Maîtres Vinaigriers and Moutardiers d'Orléans, were ennobled in 1580 by a decree of the King of France.

Martin-Pouret – Vinegar, Gherkins, and Mustard

Over the centuries, the number of vinegar producers in Orléans steadily decreased. Vinegar production became industrialized and no longer required time-consuming and costly maturation. In 1983, all the remaining vinegar manufactories closed their doors except for Martin-Pouret, who remains the only one still producing vinegar today according to the tradition of the Orléanaise method. In 2019, business partners David Matheron and Paul-Olivier Claudepierre decided to take the helm at Maison Martin-Pouret, which has been located at the same address on Rue de Faubourg Bannier since its founding in 1797, and to preserve and continue France's culinary heritage as Maître Vinaigrier. Now they dedicate all their energy and passion to reawakening vinegar production in Orléans from its slumber and producing delicious vinegars, gherkins, and mustard, utilizing the unique know-how that Martin-Pouret has developed since 1797 to create vinegars and mustards of incomparable quality.