Calvados - Real Good

by Forrest Foster

Altura is an Italian restaurant. We spend much time researching and sourcing the finest Italian ingredients, wines, and spirits to present to each of our guests. We also save some of our efforts to showcase high quality products regardless of origin. This means Guy Kugel works hard to secure wines like the Signature Cuvee from Cristom, a classic Oregon winery, and it means Nathan Lockwood sampled foie gras from three different farms before settling on Rougie.

In my corner of things, I have found gems that represent some of the finest unique spirits from across the world.

Calvados

In this case, I’d like to talk a little about Calvados.

Calvados is a region of brandy production located in northwestern France, in a territory called Normandy. The cider base for brandy made within Calvados is composed of a blend of apples and pears, the proportion depending on the particular producer and subregion. There are two major areas of brandy making, the Domfrontais and the Pays D’Auge.

The primary differences in style between the two are the legal requirements for pear and apple content.

In the Pays D’Auge, the total pear content cannot exceed 30%. In the Domfrontais, this is switched and the brandy must contain at minimum 30% pear. There is a fairly straightforward reason for this. There are very distinct soil types between the two regions. There is a rockier, stonier soil in the Domfrontais, which pear trees can easily adapt to. In the Pays D’Auge a considerable amount of clay is present which apple trees flourish in.

Calvados is one of the most expressive spirits in the world, and it is very disappointing that it is not loved as broadly as it deserves.

We have an amazing example of quality Calvados at Altura, Lemorton’s “Reserve” Domfrontais Calvados. This is an extraordinary example of any brandy, regardless of fruit. Lemorton is a family which has been producing Calvados for some 5 generations. They use a very high proportion of pear in their base cider, some 70%. Their reserve is a blend of calvados’ with an average age of five years.

This is one of the the most strong flavoured and fantastic spirits I’ve enjoyed in my lifetime; heady aromas of pear and toffee are followed by surprisingly bright pear flavors on the palate. I hope to soon have a selection of the Lemorton vintage Calvados from the 1970’s; true treasures.