Glossary · Cider
Calvados
French. Kept in its own language here rather than translated into the nearest English word, because the nearest English word is usually cut on a different axis.
Definition
The protected apple — and in the Domfrontais, partly pear — brandy of Normandy, distilled from cider under appellation rules that govern the orchard, the fermentation, the still and the minimum cask age.
- Subject
- Cider
- Language
- French
In more detail
Three appellations exist: Calvados, Calvados Pays d’Auge, which requires double distillation in a pot still, and Calvados Domfrontais, which requires a substantial minimum proportion of pears. Ageing is in oak, with a minimum of two years for the youngest permitted statement.
Where this is covered properly
The glossary defines; these pages explain. Each is described in its own words.
Region
Pays d’Auge
The Norman heartland of appellation cider and of pot-still Calvados: a small area of heavy clay, hedged pasture and dairy farms whose cider is defined by regulation as much as by tradition.
Region
Domfrontais
The perry country of southern Normandy: an area of hedged bocage around Domfront where enormous standard pear trees supply a protected perry that must be built predominantly from a single pear variety.
Related terms
Terms that belong to the same part of the subject, or that this one is routinely confused with.
Cider
Cider brandy
A spirit distilled from cider, aged in wood or sold unaged. Calvados is the protected French form; England, the United States and Spain each have their own traditions.
Cider
Pommeau
A blend of unfermented apple juice and apple brandy, matured in oak, sold at around 16 to 18% ABV as an aperitif or dessert drink.
Perry
Poiré
French perry: pear juice fermented, in the Domfrontais made largely from local perry pears, keeved and bottled to finish sparkling and off-dry.
Law and labelling
AOC
The French national appellation system, administered by INAO, under which the cider, perry and Calvados appellations of Normandy and Brittany are defined. AOC names are also registered at European level as AOP or PDO.
Where to go next
- Cider glossary — The whole vocabulary, by subject and A–Z.
- Comparisons — Terms that are only really clear when set against the thing they are not.
- Search — Finds terms by their aliases and by their spellings in other languages.
Sources
What this page rests on. Where a source is marked as registered rather than read, CiderHQ is recording that the body is authoritative on the subject without claiming to have worked through the document itself. See our evidence policy for what each state means.
Institut national de l’origine et de la qualité (INAO)
INAO · regulator · passage verified 2026-08-24
The Cidre Pays d’Auge cahier des charges was read in full on 2026-08-24, in the version homologated by arrêté of 17 January 2026 and published in the Journal officiel on 21 January. That qualification is not decoration. A revision adopted by the Comité national on 10 September 2025 is currently under the procédure nationale d’opposition, is clearly marked as not prejudging the final text, and specifies carbonation differently from the text in force — as grams of CO2 per litre rather than as a minimum pressure in bar. A summary citing the draft would have put a figure on the page that no producer is held to. CiderHQ records the operative text and says which one it is.