Which appellations does calvados have?

Calvados Pays d’Auge is distilled twice in a copper pot still, whereas the broader appellation Calvados usually goes through a column still in a single pass.

The Pays d’Auge area lies in the east of Normandy, on clay and limestone soil. The appellation has existed since 1942 and is thus the oldest of the three.

The cider for Pays d’Auge consists of at least 70 percent bitter and bittersweet apple varieties. The broader Calvados appellation, recognised in 1984, accounts for about 70 percent of total production.

Calvados Domfrontais contains at least 30 percent pears and matures for at least three years in oak casks.

The area lies around Domfront, in the south of Normandy, where pear trees dominate the landscape. The appellation was added there in 1997 and is thereby the youngest.

Distillation takes place in one run, with a column still. Domfrontais accounts for about 1 percent of all calvados, which makes the bottles scarce outside Normandy.

Fine, VS or Trois étoiles stands for at least two years in oak; Vieux or Réserve three years, VSOP four years and XO or Hors d’Age six years.

The statement always refers to the youngest eau-de-vie in the blend. A bottle with XO therefore contains calvados of at least six years, but much older material may be included.

Besides those terms there are millésimes: bottles with a vintage year. No minimum age applies to those, because the year itself says when distillation took place.

Calvados may only be placed on the market after at least two to three years on wood, depending on the appellation.

The trade organisation IDAC names two or three years of maturation in wooden casks as the threshold before a calvados may be sold. Domfrontais, at three years, is at the upper end of that range.

Maturation counts from the end of the distillation period. Once the eau-de-vie is in glass or stainless steel, the age does not advance any further.

The apples for calvados come from Normandy orchards and are cider varieties: bitter, bittersweet, sour or sweet, each with its own role in the blend.

For Pays d’Auge the cahier des charges prescribes at least 70 percent bitter and bittersweet varieties. Those varieties bring tannin, which gives the eau-de-vie backbone.

In the Domfrontais area there are many pear trees alongside apple trees. That is where the requirement of at least 30 percent pears comes from.