Calvados & Other Fruit Spirits

CALVADOS & OTHER FRUIT SPIRITS

There are a lot of different types of fruit based spirits all over the world, most are not particularly famous or consumed other than in the producing country itself, except for the Calvados which goes worldwide. France is the producer of this apple brandy that we call Calvados which will be the primary focus of this section. You might also have come across applejack from North America or other versions of fruit spirits based on cherries, raspberries, pears, plums etc. In short you can base a fruit spirit (brandy) on any kind of fruit and most have been tried and many have very, very old traditions within their country of origin.

Calvados

Calvados is a fruit spirit produced in northern France where grapes are having a hard time to grow but apples and pears thrive. Calvados is an apple distillate (sometimes with a small addition of pear) and is regulated in French law. In contrast to Cognac and Armagnac which only has one appellation each, Calvados actually has three "Appellation d'origine controlee"; AOC Calvados, AOC Calvados Pays d'Auge and AOC Calvados Domfrontais. Let's break it down below.

AOC Calvados Either pot still or copper double-column stills are allowed to be used. Must be aged for at least two years on oak. Accounts for around 70% of the total production of Calvados.

AOC Calvados Pays d'Auge Pot stills are to be used exclusively. The fermentation process must be at least 6 weeks contributing to its complex flavour. Must be aged for at least two years on oak.

AOC Calvados Domfrontais Either pot still or copper double-column stills are allowed to be used. Must be made out of at least 30% pears. 1 5% of the orchards must be planted with pear trees (25% after the 1 6th harvest). Must be aged for at least three years on oak.

On Distilling & Spirits Level 1 www.forbartenders.com 36 Copyright © Noel Ekstrand Despite the differences between the stills used, aging and so on, all three appellations share the same labelling terms:

*** / VS / Fine = rested for a minimum of 2 years (AOC Domfrontais 3 years old).

Vieux / Reserve = rested for a minimum of 3 years.

VO / VSOP / Vieille Rèserve = rested for a minimum of 4 years.

XO / Extra / Napoléon / Hors d'âge / Age Inconnu / Très Vieille Réserve, Très Vieux = rested for a minimum of 6 years.

In addition to this you will also see the traditional age statement using numbers (the number refers to the youngest part of the blend) and Vintage which indicates that the entire spirit comes from the year stated on the bottle.

Other brandies & fruit spirits

As stated above, fruit spirits can be based out of any kind of fruit. Many of these have old traditions, especially around the European alps (France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland) but also the rest of central Europe as well as Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria etc. where for example the many different varieties of a fruit spirit based on plum commonly referred to as 'Slivovitz' are being made. Other examples of fruit spirits produced in and around Europe are 'Poire Williams' (pear), 'Framboise' (raspberry), 'Fraise' (strawberry), 'Kirsch' (cherry) and 'Mirabelle' (plum). With this being said, many other countries around the world produce fruit spirits as well. Take the Japanese plum spirit 'Umeshu' for example, which has been produced for almost as long as the Japanese have known the art of turning rice into alcohol. Wherever you go in the world you will find different examples of obscure fruit spirits.

As the production and regulations (if there are any in place) will differ to such an extent between all these spirits there is no way of compiling information about it in a single article. The most important difference however is the choice the producer makes whether to macerate the fruit or to ferment it. In short, fermenting the fruit juices will produce a better quality spirit in many ways but it will also bear with it higher production costs. It is much easier, and cheaper, just to have the fruit macerate in a neutral spirit to release its flavors. The latter is obviously the more commonly used way to go about this process.

AOC Common fruit spirit terms: ‘Appellation d'origine controlee’, means ‘protected designation of origin’ and refers to a certain geographical Poire William area within France where specific rules apply regarding an Pear distillate. agricultural product.

Framboise AOC Calvados Raspberry distillate. Use of pot or column still. Aged for over two years.

Fraise AOC Calvados Pays d'Auge Strawberry distillate. Use of pot still only. Aged for over two years. May contain up to 30% pear. Mirabelle Plum distillate. AOC Calvados Domfrontais Use of column still only. Aged for over three years. Kirsch Orchards must have at least 1 5% pears. Cherry distillate.