Salu2food
Liquor & Spirits
Brandy
French
Other French
Calvados
ABOUT CALVADOS
Calvados comes from Normandy in Northwestern France, and as with cognac
and armagnac, the geographical limits and details of production are regulated
by French law. The finest calvados bears the appellation controlee Pay d
'Auge, and is produced in a small area around the seaside resort of Deauville.
The 50 to 60 varieties of apples used to distill calvados are, for the most
part, small and bitter, yet make the best brandy. The apples are crushed
and fermented into cider, which is then double-distilled in pot stills.
Most calvados however, bears a lesser classification - appellation reglementee.
Some of this calvados is made in pot stills, but most goes through a single
distillation in continuous stills.
All calvados is aged in oak casks, acquiring coloring, subtlety and mellowness.
While it begins to display finesse after 4 or 5 yrs in wood, some calvados
is aged for decades. Calvados matures more slowly than other brandies, since
the proof is not reduced prior to barreling. Almost all calvados is a blend
of several yrs and is bottled at between 80 and 86 proof.