Calvados

Calvados is not a drink you encounter that often, so it was exciting to be able to taste three examples the other day. I wasn't disappointed - these were drinks with up-front, robust, rich flavours that lingered in the mouth.

what is Calvados?

Calvados is an apple brandy from Normandy, though it can also be made from pears. There are two hundred apple varieties allowed but a producer is looking to use three styles of apples which will each offer sweetness, sourness, and acidity. It's always made using pot stills; after distillation, it's matured in new oak for a short time, before being moved to old oak barrels to limit the astringent tannins from new oak and to allow the natural aromas to develop under controlled oxidisation. This also means that older Calvados is a paler colour than Cognac of the same age.

There are three different appellations: AOC Calvados, a large area where the rules are less stringent, AOC Calvados Pays d'Auge, where the best quality Calvados is made, and the newish AOC Calvados Domfrontais, where pears are used. The three Calvados I tasted were all from Pays d'Auge.

The ageing terms aren't as important as Cognac, where they serve as part of the brand, and as with Cognac the best wines are often much older than the term suggests. All Calvados must be aged for at least two years: VSOP has to be at least four years old and Hors d'Age six.

what we tasted

VSOP Dupont (£55, hangingditch) - from Domaine Dupont, a smallish producer: gentle aromas of apple skins and cinnamon, with a robust, rustic palate and citrus fruits and sweet spices.

Dupont Hors d'Age (£75, hangingditch) - aged for around 10-12 years. Elegant aromas of rose, jasmine, and fine spice, with a rich mouth of creamy stewed apples, cinnamon, and ginger. Stunning.

Adrien Camut 12 years (NA; 6 year old, £65, hangingditch) - from an even smaller producer. Aged with more new oak than the other wines, so had a darker, caramel-brown colour. Made even more unusual in that the base drink - cider - was aged in oak for a year before distillation. Despite this longer ageing process, this Calvados had wonderful balance: cream, caramel, poached apples, cinnamon, and tarte tatin.

when to drink Calvados

The natural sweetness makes Calvados an ideal digestif, particularly after a fruity dessert or a light meat dish served in a fruit sauce. The tradition in Normandy is typically opulent: trou normand is a ten- to fifteen-course banquet where each dish is followed by a glass of Calvados, starting with the youngest and finishing with the oldest. Not sure I could survive that!