The strange story of the establishment of Appellations of Origin for Norman cider and perry spirits.
The role of war
Calvados to power tanks and stills to produce cannons?
Calvados is a cider or perry brandy, carved out over the centuries, whose origin and production are now codified in three Appellations d'Origine Contrôlées (Regional Designations of Origin). Calvados Pays d'Auge entered the very restricted circle of eaux-de-vie protected by a Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (Regional Designation of Origin) in 1942, in the midst of the Second World War and under the occupation of France by Nazi Germany. Did the Normans have nothing more urgent in such a dark period of their history than to claim an appellation of origin for their brandy? This is a strange story that deserved to be told.
The Appellation of Origin (AOC) is the hallmark of a great product. It is a recognition and protection that producers aspire to. Generally, they mobilize to obtain it without shying away from the considerable efforts required for the application and all its justifications. Until 1942, only wines and wine spirits, Cognac and Armagnac, had obtained an AOC.
Under pressure from the occupying authorities, the State was forced to enact the law of January 13, 1941, intended to address the fuel shortage. It reserved all alcohol production for the Alcohol Service, with the exception of those with a designation of origin. Cognac and Armagnac were exempt from requisition, but stocks of Calvados and cider eaux-de-vie, not protected by a designation of origin, were to be transformed into fuel. It was a rude awakening for the Normans! Another threat loomed over the distillers: the Germans were requisitioning all available copper for weapons production. How could the stills be saved?
The production areas of Cognac and Armagnac had been geographically demarcated as early as 1908 and 1909. The INAO was created in 1935 and by 1936 Cognac and Armagnac had obtained their AOC. Baron Le Roy, who would become the first president of the INAO, had suggested as early as 1923 the creation of Appellations of Origin for ciders, perries and cider and perry eaux-de-vie, but nothing had been done when France entered the war in 1939. The cider eau-de-vie producers, insufficiently organized and probably lacking motivation, had not mobilized sufficiently to have their production recognized as AOC. Furthermore, it would have been necessary to overcome the reluctance of the "National Committee of Appellations of Origin for Wines and Eaux de Vie" (CNAO), composed solely of winegrowers, most of whom were keen to protect their own territory. In 1935 and 1936, Norman distillers had indeed demanded the protection of traditional eau-de-vie production, the term calvados being usurped to describe cider eaux-de-vie made anywhere, with anything and anyhow. "Calvados" was made in Brittany, in the Massif Central, in Savoie, in Switzerland and even in Argentina! Several lawsuits had been filed during the 1930s, but the law of May 6, 1919, which specified the right to the appellation of origin, was not clear and the judgments defined calvados as a generic name synonymous with cider eau-de-vie. Due to the lack of delimitation, the Calvados appellation had fallen into the public domain; its production conditions did not obey any precise rules. Such a situation should have pushed the distillers to come together, organize, and fight to put an end to such a situation. Did they consider Calvados a secondary product? Probably not, but history has shown that they came together more easily to protest taxes than to build a market. Having taken too long to unite to protect the jewels of Normandy's agri-food production, they allowed the name "Camembert" to become generic, and without the determination of Jacques Le Roy Ladurie, Minister of Agriculture in 1942, the same misfortune would undoubtedly have happened to Calvados.
“Calvados” first appellation given to a product which was not of wine origin .
Horrified at the thought of what their brandy would become, the Normans turned to the INAO in 1941. The National Institute of Appellations of Origin, which in 2006 became the National Institute of Origin and Quality, is a public institution under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture. It is charged by the State with ensuring the control and protection of Appellations of Origin both in France and abroad by fighting against usurpations and ensuring compliance with production conditions. Fortunately, in 1925, it was omitted to specify that the INAO would only have jurisdiction over wine brandies, which allowed it to deal with cider brandies. The cider brandy producers and their unions submitted the necessary justifications and their proposals concerning the regulation of the production conditions of cider brandies.
Never will a request for recognition as an Appellation of Origin be processed so promptly!
Jacques Le Roy Ladurie, from an old Norman family in the Domfront region of Orne, was a man of strong character. He briefly served as Minister of Agriculture in 1942 before joining the resistance in January 1943. He was determined to protect the stocks of brandy from the occupier's covetousness. The study carried out from February to September 1942 resulted in two decrees promulgated in 1942 that gave status to calvados and cider brandies.
The Normans achieved, without much effort, the establishment of Designations of Origin for their cider and perry spirits . But due to a lack of possibilities for investigation, the first delimitation was based on empiricism and laxity, with the main objective of preserving potable alcohol and indirectly that of copper stills. The protected area was immense and the constraints light! The future would show the need to strengthen them. The State agreed to publish the decrees but made it conditional that their effects be suspended until the cessation of hostilities: "the pressing needs of the alcohol service did not yet allow the eaux-de-vie to be left for consumption, as they had to be delivered as a priority for fueling." It was therefore only in November 1945 and April 1946 that the first decrees came into force. Some producers who had an interest in restoring the situation to what it had been before 1941 claimed that the decrees promulgated by the Vichy government had no value. But the State validated the decrees in question in April 1946. The same producers then decided to appeal to the Council of State on the grounds that the name Calvados had long since fallen into the public domain and become synonymous with cider brandy. The Council of State rejected their claims. The Second World War put an end to a situation that could have lasted for a long time. The "Calvados" appellation was the first appellation granted to a product that was not of wine origin. It is now protected.