Calvados Christian Drouin, near Pont-l'Évêque: three generations of Pays d'Auge Calvados

Calvados Christian Drouin has been distilling Calvados Pays d'Auge near Pont-l'Évêque since 1960, across three generations. Guillaume Drouin, a trained oenologist who worked in Bordeaux, Australia and Haiti, now runs it, between cider-apple orchards and a pot still that distils twice.

How would you describe Calvados Christian Drouin?

Some thirty cider-apple varieties at Coudray-Rabut

Calvados Christian Drouin has no vines. It grows some thirty cider-apple varieties on tall standard trees, the kind of open-grown apple tree beneath which cattle graze, fertilise the soil and, in September, clear the worm-eaten fruit.

“Our ambition is to show all the finesse and the diversity that the apple can offer.”

Calvados is Normandy's apple brandy, an eau-de-vie made from cider: the apples are pressed, the juice ferments, then it goes to the still.

The first name travels with the business: Christian Drouin senior in 1960, Christian Drouin junior in 1969, Guillaume Drouin since 2004, and general manager since 2013.

When did you catch the spirits bug?

Aged three at the mouth of the still, then a detour through the vineyard

Guillaume Drouin dates the start very early.

“My father still teases me about it, saying he caught me at the age of three, tasting the calvados as it came off the still.”

At sixteen, his grandfather introduced him to wine and he decided to become an oenologist. Years in the vineyard followed: Lynch Bages in Bordeaux, Cazal Viel and Domaine de Castelnau in the Languedoc. Then South Africa, at Western Wines, and Australia, at Rosevears Estate.

The way back came from elsewhere, from a consulting job in Haiti for Barbancourt rums, which made him want to look more closely at spirits and at the family orchards.

What philosophy guides your work in the orchard and in the cellar?

Four families of apples, and wood that must not cover the fruit

The comparison with the vine is his own.

“In our case, the vines are orchards, but the philosophy stays fairly close: everything begins with the quality of the fruit.”

Cider apples fall into four families, and each one plays its part in the blend. The house orchard leans towards bitterness: half bittersweet, a fifth bitter, a fifth sweet, a tenth sharp.

“In the cellar, we favour precision and patience. The wood must enrich the eau-de-vie without ever masking the apple.”

Hence the preference for casks already used rather than new wood, some of them having held sherry, port or banyuls.

Which calvados best represents the house?

The Calvados Pays d'Auge Hors d'Âge, and two hours ahead of you

Asked to name the calvados that sums up the house, Guillaume Drouin picks the Calvados Pays d'Auge Hors d'Âge, a balance between fruit, flowers and spice.

The wording sets a regulatory floor of six years in cask, while the house blend runs closer to fifteen. He still puts it together with his father.

“At the table, it goes very well with a tarte Tatin or a dark chocolate dessert. It can also make fine pairings with a Livarot or another Normandy cheese with character.”

Livarot is a washed-rind cheese made in the Pays d'Auge, a neighbour of the orchards, but the rule that Guillaume Drouin repeats most is neither a temperature nor a pairing.

“I often say that the best way to taste a calvados is to have two hours ahead of you and a good friend.”

Time again, as in the cellar.

Which memory has marked you most?

A call from the Élysée before the G8 summit in Deauville, May 2011

The memory is neither a harvest nor a competition, but a phone call.

“When I got a phone call from the Élysée in 2011, shortly before the G8 summit that was being held in Deauville.”

The summit was held on 26 and 27 May 2011 in Deauville, and the request was for a bottle of vintage calvados for each head of state, from their year of birth.

The house did not hold every one of those vintages, and the protocol office set aside the idea of printing a year of birth on Angela Merkel's label.

“We finally prepared personalised bottles with the name of each President on the label, and we were able to use the same calvados for all the presidents, a very fine 1990 vintage!”

On a calvados label, a vintage is the year the apples were picked, not the year of bottling.

Why follow Calvados Christian Drouin?

Changing the way calvados is looked at, in France and beyond

Because its project reaches beyond its own bottles.

“What motivates me most is changing the way calvados is looked at.”

Many people still hold an old or narrow picture of it, he says. What he remembers is their surprise when they find out how fine the spirit is.

The stated ambition comes in two parts: carrying calvados beyond France, and making it easier to approach.

Discover the calvados of Christian Drouin direct from the estate, at the estate price, on Avenue des Vins.

Frequently asked questions about Calvados Christian Drouin

What is the difference between Calvados Pays d'Auge and Calvados?

The Pays d'Auge covers 290 communes in the Calvados, Orne and Eure departments, a fraction of the Calvados area. Above all it requires two passes in a copper pot still, where a column still is enough elsewhere.

What does Hors d'Âge mean on a Calvados bottle?

At least six years in oak, counted on the youngest eau-de-vie in the blend. The lower steps: two years for VS, three for Vieux, four for VSOP.

How is Calvados distilled?

In the Pays d'Auge, twice. The first pass gives the petites eaux, around 25 to 30% alcohol; the second, called the bonne chauffe, comes out close to 70%.

Which apples are used to make Calvados?

Cider apples, never dessert apples. They are gathered off the ground between September and December, and several families are needed to balance the cider.

Is Calvados served neat or on ice?

Neat for an old Calvados, in a small tulip glass that gathers the aromas, at around 16 to 18°C. On ice for a young one, as an aperitif, where the cold softens the intensity.