What is vieux?

Vieux is made from ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, with aromatic flavourings added. Wine distillate is not a mandatory ingredient, and that is where vieux differs from brandy.

The old Dutch description showed that difference well. Vieux had to have the aroma of a spirit distilled from wine, without itself being distilled from wine. The name is French, the drink is Dutch. Colourings were permitted, which gave the bottle the light to dark brown colour the description prescribed.

Article 10 of the Verordening Benaming Gedistilleerde en Zwak gedistilleerde Dranken 2009 required at least 35 percent alcohol, at most 20 grams of sugar per litre and a light brown to dark brown colour.

That same regulation of the Productschap Dranken also defined jenever, korenwijn and advocaat. For vieux, six requirements were listed in a row: the colour, the raw material, the flavourings, the sugar content, the permitted colourings and the alcohol content.

Since 1 January 2015 there has been no Dutch rule for vieux. Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/787 assigns vieux no category of its own.

The regulation lapsed when the commodity boards were abolished with the Wet opheffing bedrijfslichamen. No national replacement came for the product descriptions. What remains are the European rules for spirit drinks and the general food labelling rules.

The legal designation is spirit drink, because vieux does not meet any category in Annex I. The name vieux simply remains on the bottle as well.

Article 10(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/787 governs that fallback. A drink that does not fit into any category but does meet the general definition of a spirit drink carries that name.

Brandy must come from wine distillate, have at least 36 percent alcohol and mature for at least a year on oak. None of those three requirements apply to vieux.

Brandy is category 5 of Annex I: made from wine-derived spirit, matured in oak casks of at least 1,000 litres for a year, or six months in smaller casks. Flavouring is not permitted. Vieux, by contrast, starts from neutral alcohol and flavourings.

The old Dutch rule required at least 35 percent alcohol. That requirement has lapsed; legally the lower limit of 15 percent that applies to spirits remains.

In practice, many producers stick to the old 35 percent, but that is no longer mandatory. If you want to know what is in the bottle, the label is the only reliable source.