Cognac, Armagnac, Calvados and Eau de Vie

Today, I was feeling fuzzy.

It was because lunch last seven hours yesterday. We went to see our friends the Peels, who cooked a delicious roast pork (with crackling and stuffing, unheard of in France) and polished off the delicious meal by opening a few bottles of Eau de Vie.

Eau de Vie, in case you didn't know, is French for Water of Life. In fact, almost all distilled alcoholic spirit has a name based around that. Whiskey is apparently ancient Gealic for Water of Life. As is the Russian origin of the word Vodka. And while each country's native spirit seems to be so individual, they all come from the same core process.

The French spirit is, of course, brandy.

But brandy itself is an enormously broad description. All brandy is, essentially, is Eau de Vie made from grapes. Grape juice, or even wine, is distilled into a fiery clear spirit which develops it's rich flavour and colour by being aged in traditional oak barrels.

The Italians have brandy. So do the Greeks. And although it's typical for brandy to be distilled from a grape base, the description covers just about any fruit used to prepare the spirit.

But brandy is the alcoholic spirit of France. And in keeping with such a varied nation, which boasts over four hundred types of domestic cheese, there are many types of French brandy.

The most famous is Cognac.

Cognac is a name that only brandies distilled in the Cognac region of France can boast. Just like Champagne, it's a regional brand name that is jealously guarded by the most famous Cognac Houses, like Hennessy, Martel and Courvoisier.

And just like regional brands, like Champagne and Bordeaux, to produce authentic Cognac you have to follow strict guidelines. Not only must it be produced in the Cognac region... The spirit itself must be made from at least 90% Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche, or Colombard grapes. It must be distilled twice in copper pot stills and aged at least 1/2 to 2 years in French oak barrels in order to earn the coveted title Cognac.

Not quite as famous as Cognac, but growing in popularity and argueably the superior drink, is Armagnac.

Made in very much the same style as Cognac, in fact using exactly the same grapes and the important oak barrels, Armagnac is distilled with a colomn still, rather than the copper pot stills. This explains the slightly different taste of the spirit. Like Cognac, it must be produced in a strictly controlled region in the foothills of the Pyrenees.

Some people suggest the flavour of Armagnac to be more complex. However, the two real reasons why Armagnac is more critically acclaimed than Cognac come down to production. The Armagnac has 200 years more history than Cognac and is made in much smaller quantities. In fact, for every five bottles of Armagnac that are produced, more than a hundred bottles of Cognac hit the shelves.

Certainly, those in the know pick Armagnac over Cognac, if only to impress people.

But of all the French brandies, the one I have fondest memories of is Calvados.

Calvados is a region of France, in Normandy. Normandy is famous for it's delicious pigs and plump, ripe apples. Unsurprisingly, the local brew is cider, rather than beer, and their local brandy is made from apples, instead of grapes.

Cognac uses copper stills. Armagnac uses the colomn still. Either method is appropriate for Calvados, but it must be oak aged for two years to earn the right to be called Calvados and produced under strict guidelines similar to the more famous brandies.

The reason I like Calvados is because of the time I spent living and working in Normandy, in a little seaside town called Saint Valery en Caux. My friend Sarah lived down the road, in Rouen, and many a night involved ill-considered forays into Calvados tasting.

If you ever go to Normandy, you'll see postcards throughout the region with holes cut in them. They're jokey cards making reference to the 'Trou Normande,' which is the Normandy Hole.

The trou Normande is the single measure of Calvados one gulps down between courses in Normandy, to create a 'hole' in your stomach to fill with the next course.

While Cognac and Armagnac are apparently the preserve of the cigar puffing coinessuers, Calvados has a wonderfully accesible history and is a much more fun drink. If you're looking for a suitable after dinner snifter that could stimulate a conversation (as well as your appetite) I'd certainly pick a bottle of AOC Calvados.

Bottoms up!