V.S.O.P. Archives - Wine Paradise

CHÂTEAU DU BREUIL Calvados VSOP (40%)

shop_admin — Fri, 22 May 2020 10:40:56 +0000

Calvados

Calvados is an apple brandy from Normandy in France.
Calvados is distilled from cider made from specially grown and selected apples, from over 200 varieties. They can be bitter, sweet, acid, sour or bitter-sweet.
The fruit is harvested and pressed into a juice that is fermented into a dry cider. It is then distilled into eau de vie. After ageing in oak casks, it can be sold as calvados as following:

*“Fine”: 2 years old minimum
*“VSOP”: 4 years
*“XO”: 6 years

Three different AOC appellations exist:
*Calvados (71% of total surface): Can be obtained by apples from the whole Normandy and be distilled only once in a column still.
*Calvados « Pays d’Auge » (28%): the apples must be produced in the Region Pays d’Auge, from selected varieties. 2 distillations in a pot still are necessary.
*Calvados «Domfrontais» (1%) : produced with minimum 30 % of pears.

Château du Breuil

Located in the midst of the Calvados region (Normandy), Château du Breuil has been a distillery transforming apples into Calvados, an apple brandy, since 1954.

Built in the early 16th century, the Château has been the residence of great noble French families and now is classified as a historical monument.

It is one of the rare Calvados distilleries to have integrated orchards of apple trees in the property, total 22,000 planted on 42 hectares.

Château du Breuil company produces more than 420,000 bottles every year. It is the N°2 AOC “Pays d’Auge” Calvados producer.

By the way, do you know:
24 kg of apples
Provide around 18 liters Cider (+/- 5% Vol. Alc.)
Provide approximately 1 liter pure alcohol Calvados (100% Alc.)

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CLÉMENT Rhum Vieux Agricole AOC – Limited Edition by JonOne – VSOP Rum (40%)

shop_admin — Thu, 21 May 2020 07:54:56 +0000

Martinique

Martinique, a French Caribbean island, is mainly producing “Rhum Agricole”, which is obtained by distilling of sugar cane juice. This kind of rum is more aromatic. To produce 10 litres of rum roughly 100 kg of sugar cane needs to be processed.
In 1996, the Martinican Rhum Agricole obtained an AOC recognition, “Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée’’ and is the only one so far.

Like in Cognac or Armagnac, there are strict ageing conditions & appellations:
*“Rhum Blanc Agricole Martinique”: min. 8 weeks in steel tanks
*“Rhum Vieux Agricole”: min. 3 years in oak casks of mac 650L
*“Rhum Extra Vieux Agricole, XO”: min. 6 years in oak casks
All ageing & bottling must be done on the island.
No Additional Flavor & No Additional Sugar

Rhum Clément

Rhum Clément has been established in 1887 when Homère Clément, physician and mayor of Le François in Martinique, purchased a 43-hectare sugar plantation, Domaine de L’Acajou.
Inspired by the enjoyment of great brandies while studying in his early years in Paris, Homère mimicked the distillers of the great Armagnac’s of southwestern France to perfect his method of rhum production known today as Rhum Agricole.Nowadays, Rhum Clément has 8000 barrels patiently aged in their 5 historical cellars and is a leading producer of A.O.C. Martinique Rhum Agricole, exporting to 80 different countries.
Around 8% of the volume of each barrel is lost every year due to « evaporation » (or Angel share). The aging is also unique, known to go 2.5 times faster than in Europe or Kentucky due to the high temperature and humidity.

The post CLÉMENT Rhum Vieux Agricole AOC – Limited Edition by JonOne – VSOP Rum (40%) appeared first on Wine Paradise.

CLÉMENT Rhum Vieux Agricole AOC – VSOP Rum (40%)

shop_admin — Thu, 21 May 2020 07:20:20 +0000

Martinique

Rhum Clément

The post CLÉMENT Rhum Vieux Agricole AOC – VSOP Rum (40%) appeared first on Wine Paradise.