...or a snifter of Calvados, keeps the doctor away! Or so believes Vinomaker. It's just as well then that two bottles of the stuff, from Vinomaker's favourite Calvados producer Pere Magloire, recently appeared in the form of a late birthday gift from Thud (the family's other Calvados enthusiast).Traditionally, Calvados, an apple brandy, can contain the juice from as many as 100 different apple varieties, it is distilled in an alambic pot still, and must be aged in oak barrels for a minimum of 2 years. Calvados production is said to date as far back as the 8th century. However, the first recorded production in Normandy was much later than that, in 1554 in fact, and the status of appellation d'origine contrôlée was not conferred upon the area until 1942. The golden age of Calvados production, and consumption, is said to have occurred in the late 1800s when a distinctly American pest, Phylloxera, wiped out the vineyards of France. Oops!
Myself, I just like apples and I'm currently mourning the end of the McIntosh apple season. Sigh!
4 comments:
Ah, Calvados; the very essence of le trou Normand! A great use for apples it is too - I wonder if you have tried apfelwein in Germany? It's not quite as good as a pint of West Country scrumpy, but not bad!
Chears ears!
I wonder if anyone is making a West Country Calvados yet ?
Affer: I do like scrumpy.
Thud: He's a very happy Vinomaker - thanks!
Villager: Don't know about the West Country, but there maybe something afoot on Merseyside.
Post a Comment