Cidre Dupont Réserve

Brewed by Domaine Familial Louis Dupont
Style: Cider
Victot-Pontfol, France

Sediment throughout and no head. Hazy brownish color. Oak dry flat palate not very sweet taste. Tart apple and has some wine like tannic qualities like they through in the stems of the apples.

2004. Golden pear color and slightly hazy with very fine misty bubbles that could easily be overlooked. Aroma of apple jelly with flowery notes, some spice, distinct oak, and a hint of vanilla. Flavor is of ripe apples and peaches with subtle biting spiciness and brandy notes. Medium sweet with even tartness some tannic bitterness and a long, woody finish. Nice texture. Fine carbonation keeps it lively. Part of me wants this to be drier but I wouldn’t want to sacrifice the nice body. Great depth. Blows away any cider that I’ve had.

2003 bottle, thanks to my girlfriend who brought it back from France! At first, poured a bubbly, clear, very light gold, with essentially no head. Looked champagne-like. Towards the bottom of the bottle, pours became cloudy, opaque, and with floaties. Aroma is sweet apples, lightly musty, stale, moldy, band-aid -- lots of "farm" aromas. Light vinegar. Later pours were woody, yeasty. Very complex. Taste is, of course, sweet apples, lightly sour but with a good amount of astringency (granny smith). Stale, oxidized, woody. The aroma became yeasty as the taste did and the appearance clouded. Great mouthfeel from the dryness & astringency. Tartness does not quench your thirst -- it leaves you wanting to drink more -- but the sweetness almost negates this effect. I am a big fan of French-style cidres. This one was delicious and beautiful.

Translucent orange-amber body, no real head or carbonation. Softened, oxidizied macintosh apple aroma with fresh tart green apple skin and sweet mushroom eath. The aroma also has a dry oaky air about it, this comes along with the mushy apple sweetness. Semi-dry mouthfeel but with a tannic sweetness. The flavor features green apple tartness, that same mushy macintosh sweetness, and concentrated apple juice (yes, the canned stuff). The barrel-aging might be present in the light bitterness that exists over the whole flavor. This stuff needs more carbonation, it feels flat and sweet on the tongue. This could be a great spritzy drink.

2003 Bottle: Very cool cage deal on top of the cork. Pours a perfect cloudy tan. Bustling carbonation. Musty ripened apple nose, plum and wine, faintly spiced. Very nice mouthfeel, dusty, leather, obvious apples, faint horseblanket, bandaid, citrus, finishing with a white peppery calvados burn. Quite nice, please let this warm. This wasnt what I had anticipated, but quite good nonetheless. A tad expensive, this is still a cider that needs to be tasted. These guys know how to do their ciders.

Cloudy tan colour. Minimal visible carbonation. Fruity, tannic, alcoholic aroma. Flavour is sweet, with an appley, leathery character. Finishes soft and smooth, which is a bit of a letdown.

2004 Bottle: Corked: Hazy gold color, no head, no lacing and light carbonation. Nose of musty apples and prunes. The flavor is dusty and sweet with apples and calvados. Finishes with some tobacco flavors. Good but the lack of carbonation doesn’t bode well with with this cider.

Pours a hazy yellow and smells of leather and apples. As the cider warms, the dominant smell is funky with apples, some wood and mellow alcohol present. Taste is a nice blend of dry, tarte and sour apples, oak, some farmhouse funkiness and a great dry apple/oak finish. One of the more rustic ciders I’ve had. The calvados hints pop through on the finish, giving this cider a distinctively aperitif like finish.