Pineau des Charentes: an overlooked cocktail ingredient?
Posted on May 14, 2008
Filed Under Seamus Harris | 7 Comments
This is the debut post from Seamus Harris. Craig is a cocktail enthusiast from Auckland, New Zealand, who can sometimes be found in Shanghai, China. He writes Bunnyhugs.
Between now and July I will be bringing you few posts on France’s rich traditions in the areas of aperitifs and mixed drinks. Why this disconcerting focus on French excellence you ask? The purpose is to whet your appetites for the Tales of the Cocktail session entitled The Cafes of Paris, led by Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown, and to be held on the afternoon of July 19th. It promises to be a very interesting session.
It looked better full. . .
Pineau des Charentes is an interesting aperitif from France that I have only recently tried. It seems to be relatively unknown outside of France. Pineau des Charentes is typically drunk straight and only rarely used in cocktails. However, since I am interested in aperitif wines as cocktail ingredients I picked a bottle up to try it out.
Pineau des Charentes (also known simply as pineau) is said to have originated in the 16th Century when wine must (i.e. unfermented grape juice) was accidentally poured into a cask containing cognac eau de vie. The cognac prevented the must from fermenting and the barrel was set aside as an unfortunate mistake. However, it was found that extended maturation saw the flavors of the wine must and cognac blend to produce a fine drink. Pineau has been a specialty of the Charentes region ever since. The Charentes region seems to be sub-region within Cognac by the way.
The regulations governing production of Pineau des Charentes are quite strict. For a start the product must come from the Charentes region. The grapes used for the must should be Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche, Colombard, Sémillon, Sauvignon or Montils. Pressing must be light to ensure the pressed juice is of high quality. The cognac used for blending must be a minimum of one year old, 60% or higher alcohol by volume, and from the same vineyard as the must. According to the Comité National du Pineau des Charentes the finished product must be matured in oak barrels for a minimum of 18 months. Other sources mention minimum maturation of 8 months for red pineau and 12 months for white, so there seems to be some ambiguity on this point. Old pineau can be aged for 10 years or longer. The alcoholic strength by volume must be in the range 16-22%. Most pineau is a blend of roughly one quarter cognac to three quarters wine must, with an alcoholic strength of around 17%.
The vast majority of pineau is either consumed within France or exported to Francophone markets. Less than 25% of pineau production is exported, and over 90% of exports go to Belgium and Canada. In practice France and Belgium together consume almost all pineau production. Canada follows a very distant third, but still consumes several times more than the next largest pineau drinking nation. I am guessing Quebec is the center of Canadian pineau consumption. The French are keeping this one very much to themselves. So enough of facts and figures! It is time to open that bottle and see what the French are hiding. . .
The taste is mild but interesting, and unusual compared to other aperitif wines. No herbal flavors, bitterness or spice leap out at you. There is also little of the matured complexity of aperitif wines like port or sherry. This stuff is simply sweet, full bodied, and extremely ‘fresh’. It tastes like a very fruity wine, but also reminds me strongly of mead (honey wine). It is hard to believe it contains no honey since the honey taste is so strong. There is also some apple aroma, though again no apples were harmed in its manufacture. It has an unusual ‘primeval’ character, reminding me of the opening titles in Werner Herzog’s ‘Fitzcarraldo’, which describe the Amazon is described as a place where God never finished his creation. Pineau seems slightly rough-and-ready, with a plethora of interesting aromas that threaten to erupt all over the place and are disinclined to sit still. This stuff should have potential as a cocktail ingredient. I wonder why it isn’t used more?
In terms of mixing I would tend to think (roughly in order of potential) along the lines of cognac (the obvious choice), calvados, rhum agricole, pisco, Cuban rum, and whiskey. Pineapple juice also springs to mind, and perhaps Cynar could be another idea. This is not experience talking. I am just making some guesses as to what might work. I should also note that I did not dream up the rhum agricole angle. I bought a bottle of pineau partly so I could make a rhum agricole drink, the Pompadour, from the Esquire Drinks Database. Lets start with the Pompadour then. . .
The Pompadour
1 ½ oz rhum agricole vieux (I used St. James Ambre)
1 ½ oz pineau
½ oz lemon juice
This shows off the characteristics of both the rhum and the pineau. It is weird and unlike anything you are likely to have drunk. It is also fantastic. There is a full on aroma symphony, with the fresh and aromatic characters of both ingredients getting a chance to shine. You should seek out Pineau des Charentes for this drink alone.
Next up are a couple more pineau cocktail recipes I found online. I will include some experimental recipes of my own in a subsequent post. This next recipe is from website site of a producer of Pineau des Charentes.
Charentais
2 1/2 oz pineau
½ oz cognac
¼ oz crème de framboise
1 tsp lemon juice
This smooth and tasty refresher is just lightly spiked pineau. The source of this recipe was unclear on whether a liqueur or eau de vie framboise was called for (mentioning both in different places). I did not have an appropriate eau de vie so I went for a liqueur. The lemon juice was added by me as an afterthought to give it some zing since it tasted a bit flat.
The next was something not unlike the above, but with the addition of a dash of pineapple juice and the whole then being brought to life with champagne. Again the recipe was from the website of a pineau producer.
Reaulais
2 oz pineau
½ oz cognac
½ oz pineapple juice
1 dash grenadine
2 oz champagne or sparkling wine
Shake everything except the champagne over ice. Strain into a glass and top with champagne.
A very rich yet slightly lively drink. There are no real surprises but it is most pleasant.
The next recipe was from a French language website – hence a little ambiguity over what liqueur is meant.
Ambassade
1 ½ oz pineau
½ oz gin
½ oz ‘orange liqueur’ (I used Grand Marnier)
Stir over ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
Another “take Pineau des Charentes and spike it with a little hooch” type of drink. It tastes good though. French style cocktails, by which I mean drinks that are heavy on aperitif wines and light on spirits, are tasty. Made with Grand Marnier the drink is rich and smooth. With Cointreau or some other triple sec it would probably be more fresh and fragrant.
I love the way the French can’t help adding London Dry Gin to things. It has to hurt them, right? I am imagining an “every time you spike your drink with gin, somewhere in the world a DGSE operative in scuba gear dies” kind of thing.
Sorry, I’m unrelenting about the Rainbow Warrior Affair aren’t I? The French are a fine race, and have punched well above their weight in terms of inventing delicious aperitifs. I’ve had better cocktails than this one, but I’ve also had much worse.
In my next post on Pineau des Charentes I will experiment with some recipes of my own.
The Cafes of Paris takes place Saturday, July 19, at 2:30 pm at the Hotel Monteleone. Tickets are available here.
I tried the Ambassade with red Pineau and it was awful! When I poured the cocktails, my husband asked if it was linctus. When we drank it, we both agreed it was!!!!!!!!!!!! Perhaps it was better with white Pineau.
what do you think of a splash of
pineau in a vodka martini?
I found your article on the Pinaeu to be very informative and enlightening. I too discovered the Pinaeu by accident….at a Cigar Bar in Arizona, of all places, and in fact, became the person instrumental in the owner of the Cigar Bar’s becoming the top distributor of the wine in the whole state of Arizona!
From the first sip, I’ve become so enamored of this wine, that it’s what I drink almost exclusively at home. Unfortunately, it can’t be found in very many restaurants, so I have to settle for something else when I dine out.
I will have to try some of your recipes you have generously shared with others. They look to be very tasty. Thank you for printing them.
Sincerely,
Robyn Barnes
Yummy yummy pineau des charentes – was served to me as the “house” wine when i was visiting in the Dordogne region of southern France. It is a popular drink there – but somehow, when I buy it in the US, it doesn’t taste the same – even the bottle I brought home with me. Must be terroir!
I first tried Pineau when traveling through the Charent region in the early 90s. We toured what we thought was a small family winery, but turned out to be a Pineau maker. We fell in love with the stuff, bought a case and brought it home. While on occasion you can find it in the states, it is rarely as good as the “good stuff” you find in France, especially the 15 and 20 year old bottles – liquid gold!
Great article! I’m a Pineau freak as well, and have spent more years than I can remember visiting and drinking with small Pineau makers. We actually sell a few varieties in our shop, The Meadow, but we, too, have had a heck of a time finding quality vintage pineau here in the U.S. Perhaps it’s time we imported some ourselves. Your cocktails and descriptions are wonderful. I’m doing the Pompadour tonight for a cocktail class!
Good to see this underappreciated aperitif get some good press. I first discovered Pineau when the sommelier at a French restaurant in Charlottesville, VA suggested pairing it with fois gras instead of a Sauternes. It was wonderful! Sad it’s so difficult to find good versions of this–or any versions, for that matter–in the States. J Vineyards in the Russian River Valley in CA makes a good, similar wine that they call Ratafia–same concept (adding brandy to grape must,)but this version uses pinot noir juice as its base, so that it is more similar to the wines made in the Champagne region. It’s worth trying. Pollak Vineyards in Virginia also makes a wine, Mille Fleurs, that is as close to a good Pineau as I’ve had from a US producer–they blend brandy with late harvest Viognier. Unfortunately, they describe this as being produced “in the style of a port.” While this is certainly correct, their wine bears much more resemblance to a Pineau than to a white port–but I suppose too few people know of Pineau to make it a useful promotional comparison!