Cidre Dupont Réserve

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

Pours a hazy apple cider golden color, it is completely flat, so does not have a head of any sort. The aroma is dominated by strongly of fresh cut, sweet apples, almost even a concentrated apple note (perhaps from the Calvados). The taste is quite sweet, and tastes of unfermented apple juice, plus hints of oak in the finish. There is only a hint of wild fermentation funk here, and I am quite disappointed. I was expecting something much more wild and complex. As it warms up it gains a hint of funkiness, and a bit of tartness in the finish. If you like the New Glarus Fruit beers, then this is right up your alley, I prefer a bit more dryness and a bit more complexity. This is tasty enough, it is just that the sweetness drowns out the other flavors.

2004 vintage. Hazy golden body, nary a head. Nice sweet apple aroma, not too distinguishable from apple juice but with an earthy funk to it. Nice, full sweet apple flavor with a vinous character, rounded out by woody flavors imparted by cask aging. Woody finish that dries up the remnant apple sugars. It’s strange how apple beers can approach this flavor so closely. Very tasty and addictive...but at $10.99/bottle, this won’t be a common sip.

2003 Bottle. New year’s style. Sourish apple aroma, but there are also hints of yeast in the nose as well. Slight banana like nose. Sort of a woodsy aroma. Mildly hazy blonde color with lots of chunks floating. Had a very fizzy and very quickly dissipating white head. Start is mildly sweet, turning quite carbonated and tart in the middle. Finishes with a woody taste and a slight bitterness. Too fizzy for me. A solid cider, but not in the league of Leo Boutin Pomelle.

2004 bottle. Slightly hazy golden color, no head really but that was expected. Wonderful apple and oaky aroma along with some pear. Sweet apple flavor, definitely along the line of some more lighter colored apples, again some pear. Fairly thin mouthfeel, slightly dry. Very, quite a pleasant drink.

Cloudy yellow/gold color. Aromas of musty oak and apples. Flavors of musty apples, oak, earth, and some honey. Almost no carbonation, and a thin body. I’m no expert on cider, but this is interesting, if not great.

12.25.04 2003 version, I’ve been saving this for Christmas so it better be good! Pours pale yellow, glowing, with fizzy and dissipating head. Lively eff streams from etching. NOse is musty apple, lots of wet wood, candi sugar, funk, funk, funk, and tart-sour-sweet. Strong apple flavor with more wood and vanilla and more wood and so much apple and honey and wood; crisp, bright. So much wood it almost gets intrusive, but such a strong apple presence and some brandy notes on finish mellow and help balance the stuff. Lingering sweet wood and more brandy. Excellent.

Effervescent cider appearance. Tall beige head that settles, but just a never ending stream of bubbles form the bottom of the glass with a sharp crackling ear. Barnyard and oaken apples aromas. I do catch a bit of key lime as well in the nose. Actually fairly thick and slightly oily on the palate, which surprises me with all the bubbles cascading upward. Lots of apple flavors as expected with light sweetness carried away by apple skin dryness and a lightly acidic finish. This looks great in a standard pilsner glass I bet it would look even better in a flute.

2004 Vintage, aged 6 months in Calvados casks - 750 ml pours a rather still 24k gold with particulate suspension, no head, no lace. The aroma is of apples, wood, clover, and perhaps some wilderness happiness. Aroma is a real winner with this one. The flavor is sweet, apples, a touch sour, perhaps some cask notes, a bit of wild yeast, and quite nice. It is almost like a mixture between a Lambic and some very nice Cider. The body is still and almost astringent as it cleans the palate. It is amazing how something could be so sweet, yet so dry at the same time. Overall, sublime. Yeah baby, this is what rating is all about...