Fire in a Bottle

We turned off the main road  in northern France onto the narrow gravel drive to the stone farmhouse. A small blue sign said Ferme de Félicité. Apple orchards were visible for as far as the eye could see. There were blooming flowers around the farmhouse door and a yellow tabby lay in the sun. We parked under the huge oak tree and approached the door. According to the sign we were in the right place to taste that elusive nectar of the apple, Calvados, the fiery apple brandy that this part of France in famous for. The lady met us before we got to the door was about fifty and looked like a farm wife.



We said, "Bonjour".

She answered, "Calvados?"

And in our best French we responded, "Qui."

We followed her to what appeared to be a stone barn and entered into the cool dimly lit interior. It was obviously a small room in the barn serving as a sales area with displays of bottled product. Bottled cider and Calvados with promotional posters and marketing brochures were on the counters and walls. This was where the brandy and other apple products were produced. The process begins with the apple and there can be many varieties in each batch to be squeezed. On this farm apples are grown on twenty-four acres which produce twenty-five tons of apples annually. From these apples come apple cider, Pommeau de Normandy, and Calvados. Also apple jam is also made in a limited quantity. Pommeau de Normandy is a blend of apple musts and Calvados and is often drunk as an aperitif. It didn't take long to realize our host had a limited knowledge of English but she set out small glasses for us to sample the goods. We sampled the Calvados and the Pommeau de Normandy. I will say that after sampling the apple brandy, Calvados, I have a great deal of respect for the fire-eaters we had seen earlier in our trip at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It was simply breath-taking. But the Pommeau de Normandy was rather sweet with only a minor bite in the taste unlike Calvados.

Calvados has an interesting history and traces its heritage back to Charlemagne in the 8th century. Actually, the region of Brittany, Maine, and Normandy were known as the Calvados area. In the late 19th century Calvados experienced a huge demand because over 75% of the grape vineyards were destroyed by disease. The name “Calvados” actually was created as a designation for apple brandy to differentiate it from other brandies for tax purposes. Calvados is distilled like whiskey and the Calvados designated AOC is distilled twice. Like other distilled beverages its monetary value increases with age. We noticed that the three-year-old Calvados was more expensive than the two-year-old and it must be at least two-years-old to be sold as Calvados AOC.

After sampling the various beverages we chose a bottle of Pommeau de Normandy because we liked the taste. We would not be drinking it as an aperitif though, we found it a perfect compliment for cheese and sausage purchased at local markets. We said, “Au revoir” to the lady and the tabby that seemed to want to go with us and continued on our journey through the French countryside.