Fruit first.
Then the still.

Under current EU rules, fruit spirit is produced exclusively by alcoholic fermentation and distillation of fresh fleshy fruit, fruit must, berries or vegetables. Each distillation must be below 86% abv so the distillate keeps aroma and taste from the raw material. The minimum bottling strength is 37.5% abv.

Cider spirit and perry spirit form a separate category. The fermented base is cider or perry, and distillation must also stay below 86% abv so fruit character remains.

A third route exists for certain fruits and berries: maceration followed by distillation. The label has to state that production route. This matters especially for delicate berries because two bottles carrying the same fruit name may have been made through different legal processes.

Legal identity gives the framework. Producer choices inside that framework create the style.

Apple and pear

Apple and pear spirits can begin with fermented fruit mash, or with cider and perry that are distilled after fermentation. Calvados belongs to the cider and perry route.

The EU name Williams may be used for pear spirit only when it is made solely from Williams pears.

Cherry, plum and other stone fruit

Stone-fruit spirits are commonly produced from fermented fruit material. EU rules allow fruit spirit to be distilled with or without stones and set a specific hydrocyanic acid limit for stone-fruit spirits.

Stone handling is therefore a production choice with both sensory and technical consequences.

Cider and perry

Apples and pears may first become cider or perry. That fermented liquid is then distilled as its own legal category. This route gives Calvados its foundation.

Delicate berries

Some berries can appear in more than one EU category. Raspberry, for example, may be fermented and distilled as fruit spirit, or produced under the separate maceration-and-distillation category when that method is used.

Batch pot distillation is common across many traditional fruit spirits because it gives the distiller direct control over charge, heating and run selection. Still shape, copper contact, heating rate and cut decisions influence how much fruit, floral, fermentation and heavier character remains.

Column distillation also has an important place. A column does not automatically mean neutral spirit. Design, operating strength and legal limits determine how much character is retained.

Calvados demonstrates this clearly. The broad Calvados AOC can use either batch double distillation or continuous column distillation. Calvados Pays d'Auge requires double distillation in pot stills. Calvados Domfrontais requires column distillation.

The still is therefore part of the style story, but the legal name tells you which technical possibilities are actually available.

Clear fruit spirits

EU fruit spirit does not carry a universal maturation requirement. Many traditional cherry, pear and plum spirits are bottled clear so the fruit and distillation character remain at the front of the profile.

Fruit spirit is normally uncoloured. Caramel may be used to adjust colour only when the spirit has aged for at least one year in contact with wood.

Wood-matured fruit spirits

Oak introduces colour, tannin, spice, vanilla, toast and oxidative development while changing the way fresh fruit aromas are perceived.

Calvados must mature in oak. Standard Calvados and Calvados Pays d'Auge require at least two years. Calvados Domfrontais requires at least three.

Fruit remains visible

Young Calvados commonly keeps clear apple and pear identity. With maturation, fruit can move toward baked and dried forms while oak, spice and toasted notes become more prominent.

Appellation changes the method

The words Pays d'Auge and Domfrontais are production information, not decorative geography. They tell you something specific about fruit composition, still type and maturation.