Fruit Spirits Flashcards
(37 cards)
What kind of fruit can you use to make a fruit spirit?
Any fruit locally grown, since all fruit are risk of spoilage, they need to be processed right after harvested.
There are two different ways to make fruit spirits, which?
Most are crushed and/or pressed. Then fermented and distilled.
Some fruits are macerated in a neutral spirits, which is then re-distilled.
Which grapes do you mostly use when making a spirit?
You can use any grape, but mostly a white grape.
In Cognac, they use a white grape with high acidity and low flavours.
What is Pomace?
The grapes skin
What’s the difference between using Red och White Pomace?
White pomace, haven’t gone through the fermantation process, so the distiller has to press the grape skins, add water, then ferment it before distilling.
Red pomace is already fermented, so it can be distilled immediately after arrival.
What character will the skins give to a pomace brandy?
Herbaceous and spicy aromas.
What kind of still do you use for most fruit spirits?
Pot still is mostly used, column only sometimes.
Which fruits do you usually mature in oak and which not?
You usually mature grapes and apple in new oak barrels for a year or two before moving them to another old oak barrel for futher maturation
Pomace brandies and other fruit spirits you tend not to mature in oak.
Which grape variaty is used to produce Cognac?
Ugni Blanc
Name the three French fruit spirit regions and the order north to south and what you produce in them
Calvados - apple and pear
Cognac - grapes
Armangnac - grapes
What signatures a cognac made out of Ugni Blanc?
Rasin and violet
Which are the 3 subregions of Cognac?
Borderies
Grand Champagne
Petite Champagne
What rules must a distiller in Cognac follow to be able to call his spirit a Cognac?
Double pot stills in copper
Directly heated by a flame or nowadays, a gas burner
They can’t use the modern condensers, they must use an older style called a “worm tube”.
Maturated minimun two years in oak.
What is one way of adding more depth and complexity to a cognac?
To add a very aged spirit.
What are you allowed to add pre-distillation in Cognac?
Suger and caramel colour
Name four famous cognac brands.
Martell, Rémy Martin, Courvoisier and Hennessy
How do you label cognac and what does it mean?
VS (very special) - minimum 2 years - oak and distinct fruit aromas
VSOP (very superior old pale) - minimum 4 years - richer and fuller, aromas of maturity
XO (Extra old) Hora d’age - 10 years - raisin, floral, oak, rancio aromas
What does Fine Champagne means?
When the grapes have been grown in different sub-regions they have to be named Fine Champagne, but only when there’s more than 50% from Grand Champagne
Which grape variety do distillers use to produce Armagnac, and what character does it give the Armagnac?
the most importent one is Baco Blanc (gives aromas of prune) and Folle Blanche (gives aromas of floral), but they use Ugni Blanc aswell
What kind of still do they use when making Armagnac?
A short column still with relatively few plates, which gives the product a very characterful low-strength spirit
What are the two biggest differences between Cognac and Armagnac?
- Vintage dated products are far more common in Armagnac. Grapes harvested from the same year, and blends from only the same year.
- Distillers in Armagnac are allowed to produce and sell a spirit called Blanche, which is the same product as Armagnac but is instead of matured in oak, it’s matured for a few months in inert vessels. It’s fruty and floral.
What’s the label used for a small producer in Armagnac?
château
What labelling terms and what do they means when it comes to aging of Armagnac?
Blanche - 3 mounths
VS - (Very Special) - 1 year
VSOP -(Very Superoir Old Pale) - 4 years
Hors d’age, Vintage - XO (Extra old) - 10 years
Which two sub-regions are Armagnac divided into?
Bas-Armagnac
Armagnac-Ténarèze
If labelled, then it’s 100% grapes from that area.
