Pineau des Charentes
Encyclopedia
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
aperitif
Aperitif
Apéritifs and digestifs are alcoholic drinks that are normally served with meals.-Apéritifs:An apéritif is usually served before a meal to stimulate the appetite. This contrasts with digestifs, which are served after a meal for the purpose of aiding digestion...
, made in the départements of Charente
Charente
Charente is a department in southwestern France, in the Poitou-Charentes region, named after the Charente River, the most important river in the department, and also the river beside which the department's two largest towns, Angoulême and Cognac, are sited.-History:Charente is one of the original...
, Charente-Maritime
Charente-Maritime
Charente-Maritime is a department on the west coast of France named after the Charente River.- History :Previously a part of Saintonge, Charente-Inférieure was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
and, to a much lesser extent, Dordogne
Dordogne
Dordogne is a départment in south-west France. The départment is located in the region of Aquitaine, between the Loire valley and the High Pyrénées named after the great river Dordogne that runs through it...
in western France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. While popular in within the region of production, it is less well-known in other regions of France and somewhat uncommon abroad.
It is a fortified wine
Fortified wine
Fortified wine is wine to which a distilled beverage has been added. Fortified wine is distinguished from spirits made from wine in that spirits are produced by means of distillation, while fortified wine is simply wine that has had a spirit added to it...
(mistelle or vin de liqueur), made from a blend of lightly fermented grape
Grape
A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...
must
Must
Must is freshly pressed fruit juice that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit. The solid portion of the must is called pomace; it typically makes up 7%–23% of the total weight of the must. Making must is the first step in winemaking...
and Cognac
Cognac
Cognac is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Geography:Cognac is situated on the river Charente between the towns of Angoulême and Saintes. The majority of the town has been built on the river's left bank, with the smaller right...
eau-de-vie.
Pineau is also found as a home-made product in the neighbouring Deux-Sèvres
Deux-Sèvres
Deux-Sèvres is a French département. Deux-Sèvres literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department.-History:...
and Vendée
Vendée
The Vendée is a department in the Pays-de-la-Loire region in west central France, on the Atlantic Ocean. The name Vendée is taken from the Vendée river which runs through the south-eastern part of the department.-History:...
départements. In the Vendée
Vendée
The Vendée is a department in the Pays-de-la-Loire region in west central France, on the Atlantic Ocean. The name Vendée is taken from the Vendée river which runs through the south-eastern part of the department.-History:...
there is also made a similar drink called "Troussepinetteé, which is often flavoured with pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
or fruits such as pear
Pear
The pear is any of several tree species of genus Pyrus and also the name of the pomaceous fruit of these trees. Several species of pear are valued by humans for their edible fruit, but the fruit of other species is small, hard, and astringent....
. Elsewhere in France analogous drinks are made (Macvin in Jura, Floc de Gascogne
Floc de Gascogne
The Floc de Gascogne is a regional apéritif from the Côtes de Gascogne and Armagnac regions of Sud-Ouest wine region of France. It is a vin de liqueur fortified with armagnac, the local brandy...
in the Armagnac area; there is also Pommeau
Pommeau
Pommeau is an alcoholic drink made in northern France by mixing apple juice with apple brandy .It is consumed as an apéritif, or as an accompaniment to melon or blue cheese...
, similarly made by blending apple juice and apple brandy
Calvados (spirit)
Calvados is an apple brandy from the French région of Basse-Normandie or Lower Normandy.-History:Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known Norman distillation was carried out by "Lord" de Gouberville in 1554, and the guild for cider...
), but these products are much less well known nationally and internationally than Pineau.
History
According to legend, during the harvest of 1589, a winemaker accidentally added grape must into a barrel that he believed was empty but in fact contained eau de vieEau de vie
An eau de vie is a clear, colorless fruit brandy that is produced by means of fermentation and double distillation...
. The mixture was duly returned to the cellars for fermentation. A few years later, the barrel was retrieved and was found to contain the drink that is now associated with the region of Charente.
White pineau
The dominant white variety of pineau is made using the grapes Ugni Blanc, Folle BlancheFolle Blanche
Folle Blanche was the traditional grape variety of the Cognac and Armagnac regions of France. It is also known as Picpoule as well as Gros Plant and Enrageat Blanc...
and Colombard
Colombard
Colombard is an early fruiting white variety of wine grape, better known as French Colombard in North America. It is possibly the offspring of Gouais Blanc and Chenin Blanc....
, with occasional Sémillon
Sémillon
Sémillon is a golden-skinned grape used to make dry and sweet white wines, most notably in France and Australia.-History:The origin of the Sémillon grape is hard to determine. It is known that it first arrived in Australia in the early 19th century and by the 1820s the grape covered over 90 percent...
, Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon blanc
Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage and blanc due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France., a possible descendant of savagnin...
and Montils
Montils
Montils is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...
. The mixture is aged for at least 18 months, including a minimum of 8 months in oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
barrels.
The resulting drink is between 16 and 22% ABV
Alcohol by volume
Alcohol by volume is a standard measure of how much alcohol is contained in an alcoholic beverage .The ABV standard is used worldwide....
(but in commercial practice nearly always 17%) and is traditionally a deep gold in colour, but colours and qualities vary from vineyard to vineyard, depending on the lie of the land, the soil composition and the grape used. The taste is predominantly sweet, but is balanced by both acidity and the increased level of alcohol.
Finer varieties are aged for over 5 years in barrel, and often for several decades.
Red/rosé pineau
The red and rosé varieties, very popular locally, are made from the grapes Cabernet FrancCabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone - as in the Loire's Chinon...
, Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...
, and Merlot
Merlot
Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...
, and are aged for at least 14 months, including a minimum of 8 months in oak barrels. The finished drink is again between 16 and 22% ABV (usually 17%) and varies between a deep mahogany brown colour and a very dark pink.
Production
The annual production of pineau is around 14,000,000 litres. Around 80% of this is made in the Charente-Maritime département.Its production is controlled under the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée
Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée
Appellation d’origine contrôlée , which translates as "controlled designation of origin", is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, all under the auspices of the government bureau Institut National...
'vin de liqueur' classification, though it is not a wine in the ordinary sense. In principle the same producer grows the grapes, makes the wine and distills it into brandy, presses the fresh grape juice and then blends and matures the result. The geographical zone authorized for the production of Pineau des Charentes AOC is practically identical with that for Cognac, and in fact many of the artisanal producers of pineau (numbering several hundred) also sell their own Cognac
Cognac
Cognac is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Geography:Cognac is situated on the river Charente between the towns of Angoulême and Saintes. The majority of the town has been built on the river's left bank, with the smaller right...
.
When a good harvest is expected the best grapes may be picked by hand, but most producers harvest most of their crop mechanically. Very strict rules and formulas for the ratios of brandy and fresh grape juice are followed by each vintner and the process is even more tightly controlled for organic producers. The year of the pineau depends on the year of the eau de vie and not on the grape juice, as the juice must be freshly squeezed from freshly picked grapes - literally squeezed and mixed the same day as harvesting.
The act of mixing the eau de vie with the fresh grape juice is referred to as "assemblage", assembly or blending. It stops the fermentation of the grape must through a process called "mutage
Mutage
- Typical mechanism :The typical process involves the addition of alcohol to the must so that the fermentation process is prematurely stopped. Most yeast dies when the alcohol content in their environment is raised to approximately 13-15%. By stopping the fermentation of sugars, a sweet taste of...
".
An increasing number of vineyards in the area now produce and sell pineau in which both the grape juice and the brandy come from organically-grown
Organic product
An organic product is made from organic raw materials. It also requires Organic certification.-Food:*Fruit and vegetables*Meat, dairy, eggs*Nuts and seeds*Flour and Grains*Herbs- Processed foods :*Organic juice*Canned goods*Frozen vegetables...
grapes. Their products have certification
Organic certification
Organic certification is a certification process for producers of organic food and other organic agricultural products. In general, any business directly involved in food production can be certified, including seed suppliers, farmers, [food] processors, retailers and restaurants.Requirements vary...
.
Storing and serving
Like other foritifed wines such as SherrySherry
Sherry is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the town of Jerez , Spain. In Spanish, it is called vino de Jerez....
, Pineau des Charentes does not benefit from ageing. However, storing unopened bottles away from sources of light will do no harm to the wine, although bottles should be stored upright to reduce the exposed surface area. Once opened, Pineau des Charentes will keep for some time in the refrigerator.
Pineau des Charentes should be served chilled (8-10°C) in a tulip-shaped glass such as a sherry glass. The taper of this type of glass better enhances the aroma of the wine.