The Spirit of Calvados

by

When Susan and I lived in New York City, on the second day of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, we would take the day off to watch the various breeds compete for berths in the show’s championship round. Some breeds are meant for shows like these. The terriers and the hunting dogs have won 64 Westminster titles. Some breeds aren’t. The hounds and the herders have won nine. They’re playful, sly and smart, but they don’t seem to like dog show rules. When I drink Calvados, I think of them.

Calvados is the name of the brandy, as well as the place it’s from in Normandy, in the northwest of France. Like Cognac and Armagnac, Calvados is distilled from a mash of fermented fruit and aged in barrels. But where Cognac and Armagnac are distilled from grape wine, Calvados is distilled from apple or apple and pear cider. It’s the qualities that separate cider from wine, which are the qualities that make Calvados playful and wild.

A typical Calvados distiller cultivates and combines 20 to 25 varieties of apples into a proprietary blend. (Up to 200 kinds of apples comprise the spirits and ciders of Normandy.) The apples are divided onto four flavor categories, each offering specific qualities to the blend: sweet apples, giving sugar for fermentation; bittersweet apples for tannins; acidic apples for freshness; and bitter apples for flavor. In autumn, the distiller gathers apples from the grounds of their groves and presses them into juice. They ferment the juice from one to three months into a dry cider, then they pass the cider through a still. The distiller then ages the spirit in oak barrels, where it develops color, aromas, and flavors.

Calvados is divided into three sub-regions: Calvados Pays d’Auge AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée), Calvados Domfrontais AOC and Calvados AOC. Requirements for fruit compositions and distillation methods distinguish the three sub-regions:

  • Pays d’Auge AOC: The heart of the Calvados region and producer of the best Calvados. Double distillation in Charentais pot stills, with a minimum of two years of aging in oak casks.
  • Domfrontais AOC: Minimum of 30% pears. Single distillation in single-column stills, with a minimum of three years of aging in oak casks.
  • Calvados AOC: Single distillation in a single-column stills, with a minimum of two years of aging in oak casks.

Distillers label Calvados with a variety of age statements, which quantify the oak barrel aging of the youngest brandy in the blend:

  • Fine, VS, Trois Étoiles or Trois Pommes: Aged for a minimum of two years.
  • Vieux or Réserve: Aged for a minimum of three years.
  • VSOP, VO, or Vieille Réserve: Aged for a minimum of four years.
  • XO, Extra, Napoléon, Hors d'Âges, Très Vieille Réserve, Très Vieux, or Age Inconnu: Aged for a minimum of 6 years.

What shows the spirit of Calvados best is its liberty from ties and trusses. It plays beautifully with any Norman cheese, like Camembert, Livarot or Pont L'Évêque. Iit can be wonderful when served as un trou normand—a Norman hole—a dram of Calvados over apple sorbet between the courses of a dinner. It also pairs well with any kind of fruit dessert, or after dinner by itself. And—Comme c’est beau!—in your morning coffee.

Where to Begin?

Availability of the best quality Calvados in the State of Wisconsin is poor. These are among the best at local spirits shops. They represent a great way to begin exploring the beauty of Calvados:

  • Daron Fine
  • Calvados Pays d'Auge (from about $40)
  • Père Jules, 3 Years Old
  • Calvados Pays d’Auge (from about $40)
  • Père Magloire VS
  • Calvados Pays d’Auge (from about $32)
  • Comte Louis De Lauriston VSOP
  • Calvados Domfrontais (from about $50)