In a season of hours-long feasts, Calvados is one among my favourite methods to finish a meal. (Others embody amaro and staying on the desk so lengthy that you simply begin to really feel hungry once more.)
Lemorton Reserve, an aged Calvados from the Mantilly area of Normandy, France, is an particularly crowd-pleasing possibility. Distilled from apples and pears, it bridges autumnal and wintry flavors, and makes a superb dessert pairing or substitute. Normandy fruit is rightly celebrated, however this specific Calvados will get numerous complexity from the way it’s made and aged. The brandy sits on its lees in giant picket casks for as much as ten months, after which ages in used French oak barrels for 4 to six years earlier than bottling.
Along with toasty, tarte tatin flavors, it has an elegantly spherical texture with vanilla, natural, and gently oxidative notes. It’s simply the factor to pour if you’re desirous to maintain a dialog on the desk however can’t fathom consuming one other chew.
Whereas younger Calvados are scrumptious in cocktails, I wish to serve aged expressions like Lemorton Reserve neat. If the evening is younger and I’m in it for the lengthy haul, I may also splash it into an after-dinner cup of espresso, à la the drink that Normans name un café calva. It’s the festive season, in spite of everything—these halls aren’t going to deck themselves. astorwines.com, $59.96