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Normandy and Apples



Autumn in Normandy (or Normandie as spelt by the French) is apple season and they are everywhere. Beyond a pomme tarte tartin, what else is made from apples?

Cider

Normandy is well known for its cider. It has been made there for more than 1000 years.  Charlemagne, who in the 8th century united most of Western Europe apparently enjoyed a tipple, but cider production flourished from the 15th Century when royalty enthusiastically supported production. The apples that are used for cider making in Normandy are generally old varieties. The apples are very small and can be a blend of up to 100 types of apples. Some cider apple varieties which the Normandies use are: Rouge Durent (sweet), Rumbault (tart) and Mettais,  St Martin, Frequin, and Binet Rouge (bitter). Binet Rouge is so bitter, it is considered inedible as an eating apple.

Traditional cider is not carbonated ie no fizz and is served at room temperature.  The taste of it varies depending on how sweet or bitter the fruit is.

Calvados

Also from the 15th century there are records of Normandy’s first Calvados production. Calvados is an apple cider brandy which, like Champagne is a protected geographical brand.  

It is a distilled product made from traditional cider. To be called Calvados, it must originate from the Calvados region in Normandy and be in French oak barrel for a minimum of 2 years. Like whiskey it is generally blended over a number of years. The aging process darkens the liquid and smooths the spirit.  Calvados is often sold for cooking at 2 years, and for drinking at 3 years which is labelled as Vieux, four year which is labelled as VSOP, 6 years labelled as XO or Napolean. Better distilleries also market product around  12, 15 and 30 year. While there are 220 million bottles of cognac (grape based brandy) sold annually, only 6 million bottles are sold of calvados.

Calvados is best served at room temperature in a small tulip shaped glass. In Normandy it was traditionally drank between courses, but is now drank largely as a digestive (after dinner drink).

Calvados is typical of a pear or apple based flavour and typical of a spirit.  Like any distilled product, there are some that are more to your taste than others.
Pommeau

Familiar with cider and calvados, this week we learned of another apple based beverage; Pommeau. Those with school French can tell you that it directly translates to “apple water”. Don’t be fooled by this name, Pommeau is 16-18% proof and is drunk as an aperitif (before dinner). After the harvest, calvados is added to the most fragrant apple or pear juice and matured in oak barrels. The process known as mutage was practiced in secret for several centuries on family farms, but was commercialised in the 1970s.  The mutage process uses a blend of apples (or pear), but generally uses about 70% bitter-sweet apples.

Pommeau is best served cold (refrigerated) and in a white wine glass. In Normandy it is traditionally drank as an aperitif or used as the base for cocktails. It can also used to make rich sauces for meat or in desserts.

Pommeau is more like a port, it has sweetness, is syrupy but less viscose than port.  The apple or pear flavour is prominent.
How did we learn about Calvados and Pommeau?

Well of course, we visited and spent time with a producer. If you are in the Bayeux area, we encourage you to visit the farm and meet with 86 year old Rene Petrich at Les Vergers de Ducy. He has 120+ acres of orchard, producing great Cider, Pommeau and Calvados less than 10km from Bayeux.

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