Story for National Geographic Traveller Food: link
The French have had winemaking down to a fine art for centuries, but so too are they experts at creating liqueurs, spirits, aperitifs and digestifs. Each region has its libation of choice and each will tell you something of the land around you, its history, its produce and, often, the families who have been making it for generations. French distilleries are fascinating to visit, and I love how each drink tells a story.
The article covers kir, calvados, pastis, armagnac, walnut wine and pineau de charentes, because each is so rooted to its region. Elsewhere, these drinks are worth seeking out in their home towns.
In Normandy, don’t miss the neo-gothic Palais Benedictine in Fécamp where you’ll learn more about the herbal liqueur first made by 16th-century monks. A similar herbal liqueur, Chartreuse, comes from deep in the mysterious mountains south of Lyon and is made using 130 different herbs and plants, the exact recipe is a secret known by just two monks. Meanwhile, Angers in the Loire Valley is the home of Cointreau, the orange liqueur used in cocktails such as the Sidecar and Cosmopolitan, and its distillery tour is a treat. For daring drinkers, the town of Pontarlier in eastern France is the home of absinthe, where distilleries are resuming their production of the green fairy after the century-long ban was overturned in 2011.