On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1440

distillation of esters from the wine yeasts.
Armagnac is relatively rough and complex
thanks to its higher content of volatile acids;
it’s said to have a prune-like aroma. With
long aging, both develop a prizedrancio
(“rancid”) character from the transformation
offattyacidsintomethylketones,whichalso
provide the distinctive aroma of blue
cheese(p.62).
Lessrenownedbrandiesaremade
elsewhereinFranceandthroughouttheworld
inavarietyofways,fromtheindustrialtothe
artisanal.Especiallyinterestingarebrandies
distilledfrommoredistinctivegrapevarieties
thanthepurposelyneutralUgniblanc.
Eauxdevie,FruitAlcohols,WhiteAlcohols
These are various terms that are less
confusing than their synonym “fruit brandy”:
they name spirits that are distilled from
fermented fresh fruits other than grapes.
Unlike true “burned wines,” which offer a


complicated, transformed wineyness, eaux de
vie capture and concentrate the distinctive
essenceofthefruitsfromwhichthey’remade,
sotheycanbesavoredalmostpureratherthan
in their flesh. France, Germany, Italy, and
Switzerlandareespeciallynotedfortheirfine
fruit alcohols. Some popular examples are
apple (Calvados), pear (Poire Williams),

cherry (Kirsch), plum (Slivovitz, Mirabelle,
Quetsch), and raspberry (Framboise); less
widely known are apricot (French Abricot),
figs (North African and Middle Eastern
Boukha),andwatermelon(RussianKislav).
Asinglebottleofeaudeviemayrepresent
from10to30lb/4.5–13.5kgofthefruit.Fruit
alcoholsaregenerallydouble-distilledto
about70%alcoholandarenotagedinbarrels
—hencetheirlackofcolor—becausetheir
pointistoconcentratethefruit’sownflavor
intoanintense,full,butpureessence.One
prominentexceptiontothisruleisCalvados,
anappleeaudeviethatisdistilledinBrittany