Pineau des Charentes is a sweet fortified wine from the same area where cognac is made. Not being known for any regular wines, they work with what they've got and have produced this
Legend - gotta love legend - says that back in 1589, a winemaker poured some grape must into a barrel that he thought was empty but actually still held some cognac. When he checked on it a few years later: ta-da! The process was remembered and repeated but wasn't commercialized until 1921.
It's also, supposedly, a bit out of fashion right now and considered an old guy's drink.
~The details~
Name: Baronne de Fontignac
Year: Unlisted
Region: Charentes
Appellation: Appellation Pineau des Charentes Contrôlée
Grape/Cépage: Unlisted
Alcohol: 17%
Serving Temp: Very cold
Serving ideas: With aperitifs
What we did: A bit of blue cheese after supper
Well thank goodness for ignorance! I had no clue about the social associations of this drink. I just heard it was something from the cognac area and it sounded neat. And it was. 'Twas yummy. Lots of notes of honey and apples. It was sweeter version of calvados but less cloying than mead and reminded me a bit of the brandy fortified ice wine I had in Canada.
An article about Pineau.
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