Les Noyeraies du Lander: A visit from walnut to the manufacture of walnut oil!

Are you looking for an authentic Périgord activity, based around local Dordogne products? Immerse yourself in the delicious world of Périgord Walnuts... Walnut trees are part of our landscape. Their fruit, the Noix du Périgord, is an integral part (from starter to dessert) of Périgord gastronomy. While passing through the Medieval City of Sarlat in Périgord Noir, come and visit the walnut grove, the gourmet boutique, the conservatory orchard and the nature trail. Having belonged to the AUSSEL family for 3 generations, Les Noyeraies du Lander has become a key player in walnuts in Sarladais. Following in the footsteps of the work accomplished by Giliane AUSSEL, Damien Peboscq and Paul Dieudonné decided to embark on an adventure in order to take up the torch. By combining their know-how, they perpetuate the tradition while anchoring it in today's world.

Les Noyeraies du Lander: A love story for nuts, their oils and derived grocery products, which is written today in the heart of this region which is one of the cradles of the walnut!

Photos from the report: The Walnut Groves of Lander

The guided tour to learn everything about walnuts

The walnut is a fruit, its cycle of development and maturation, until its picking which is done on the ground, is astonishing. It is said that the shape of its nucleus, reminiscent of the two hemispheres of the brain, is precisely good for it. The walnut is full of vitamins, minerals and trace elements, Omega 3... It is a healthy and invigorating snack, which has been delighting the taste buds of humans for around 17,000 years in Périgord! That’s if we know what we’re talking about! Les Noyeraies du Lander offer you a guided tour (in all seasons, the site is open all year round !) to understand its cultivation, harvest, drying, and all the stages from production to transformation into walnut oil and others. products. The visit is free and without reservation, it lasts 30 minutes. A free visit is also possible outside of scheduled hours! In addition to the guided tour, you can discover a nature trail and an educational and fun orchard with free access.

At the end of the visit, you will discover the Noyeraies du Lander boutique, a place that promotes regional products, made on site or a few kilometers away in our beautiful Périgord. Stock up on local delicacies, bring back a useful, good and healthy gift. There you will find walnut kernels (prepared on site from walnuts from the walnut grove) and hazelnuts, fillets of dried walnuts from Périgord AOP, walnut or hazelnut flour to make cakes or crepes (to cut with wheat flour because nuts do not contain gluten), walnut kernels coated in delicious chocolate... But also virgin walnut oils in different containers and packaging. Virgin hazelnut oil, in different containers and packaging. The delicatessen offers mustard, spread, honey, jams, all made from nuts of course!

A walnut grove in production and a conservation orchard

The 50 hectares of land of Noyeraies du Lander (including 17 of walnut trees), are located at the entrance to Sarlat, as you travel from Montignac and the Vézère Valley. The nature trail, punctuated with information panels, allows you to spend a pleasant time with your family, in a beautiful environment. You can also walk in the conservatory orchard, 2ha occupied by 13 different varieties of walnut trees. Did you know that walnut trees are among the last trees to be covered with leaves in spring, they are also the first to lose them. The nut develops on the branches, in a soft, green shell, the gangue. The internal surface is soft and fleecy, it acts as a protective layer for the shell of the nut, which itself hides the kernel (which is covered with a small skin, a protective armor to preserve the benefits of the nut! ).

The varieties of Périgord walnuts which are included in the AOP are 4 in number: La Franquette (around 80% of the orchards in Périgord are those produced on site), Marbot, Le Corne, Granjean . They each have their own particularities, it's a matter of taste to know which is best, so try them all occasionally!

Production of walnut oil in Sarlat

After discovering the cultivation of walnuts, you will be able to understand the preparation of walnut oil. It is an ancestral process, which is always the same and gives an incomparable result: we grind the kernels with a stone millstone , we heat the paste obtained to help extract its oleaginous liquid, we then press for this purpose and the amber oil reveals itself with magic!

Les Noyeraies du Lander have been producing walnut oil since the 1970s. It was the Aussel family who created this company, which has now been passed on (since 2022) to trusted hands who will keep it going. Paul and Damien, childhood friends with complementary professional backgrounds, one from an agricultural background and the other from a commercial background, had a dream of becoming farmers! This is now the case with the takeover of Noyeraies du Lander! It is with “ common peasant sense ” that the plots are managed. By thinking about the environment, preserving their workplace to respect the earth, the employees who work in the orchards, those who work the finished product and of course, the consumer!

See you soon at Noyeraies du Lander!

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