A few years ago, I visited several Pineau des Charentes producers in a region of France known as the Charente, where Cognac is made. Legend has it that it was originally made by accident when a Cognac producer centuries ago added fresh grape to a barrel of eau-de-vie (a clear distillation of grapes), intended to be aged for Cognac. He let it rest, and age, anyways, and thus, Pineau des Charentes was made.

Nowadays Pineau des Charentes comes in white, red, and rosé varieties, with the rosé version aging the shortest, to some of the reds and whites being aged a decade or more, although most Pineau des Charentes is aged for about 12-18 months before it’s bottled.

It’s one of my favorite French apéritifs, which I wrote about in my book Drinking French. During my travels for the book, doing research, and diving deeper into the world of French spirits, I was fortunate to meet various producers, and it was gratifying to see what care they took

Amy married into a Cognac-making family and I met her on a visit to the region when I was visiting

I sort of made a gaffe when I was in the region prior to visiting Amy and her husband Jean, by slipping a cube of ice into my glass of Pineau des Charentes, which shocked a few of the people around me. Amy later showed me an ad from years ago that said “Osez!” (“Dare!”) and pictured a glass of Pineau des Charentes with ice is in.

Nowadays, they’re upping the “cool” factor of Pineau des Charentes by showing bartenders putting ice into Pineau des Charentes, which is a great way to enjoy it, but well-chilled, without glaçons is good fine, too.

I love Pineau des Charentes and am particularly fond of the apéritif made by Jean-Luc Pasquet, which has a unique freshness that makes it brighter than other Pineaus, and their apéritif infused with raspberries from their garden, is wonderful sipped in the summer, with or without ice. Although I always put a cube or two in mine : )

They are also making a rosé Pineau des Charentes which is giving other rosé-based French apéritifs a run for their money.

Amy was recently elected to be the president of the Comité National du Pineau des Charentes

We talked about what is Pineau des Charentes, how it relates to the Cognac-making region of France, how to drink it, and what makes it so special. While not as well-known as other French apéritifs (98% of the Cognac production is exported from France, whereas only 20% of the Pineau des Charentes is exported) and we agree that it deserves to be better-known.

I hope you enjoy my chat wtih Amy about this uniquely French apéritif!

-David

You can find Jean-Luc Pasquet Pineau des Charentes on Wine Searcher.

Follow Jean-Luc Pasquet on Instagram.

Visit the Jean-Luc Pasquet website.

Try this Fall-friendly Harvest Spritz Cocktail, made with Pineau des Charentes.

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