Etienne Dupont Givre (~7%)
As a true ice cidre "Cidre de Givre" expresses with intensity the flavors of the apples from Domaine Etienne Dupont. It is derived from E. Dupont Cidre Bouche Brut 2005 by freezing it and then removing the frozen water.
3.7
179 reviews
Victot-Pontfol, France
Community reviews
August 5, 2015. Bottle @ Sommarprovning, vintage 2006, thanks for sharing!
Clear amber with no head. Aroma is sweet baked apples, figs, raisins, some floral honey notes, toffee and light funky barnyard notes. Taste is sweet and tart fruity. Finish is sweet apples, figs, vanilla and toffee notes, tart apple skins, some citrusy notes, Light to medium bodied, oily texture, flat.
Good, nice combination of the sweet dried fruit, light funk and juicy appples.
Very incredibly, I’m told at the Dupont domain directly that this cuvée oscillates between 6% and 12% depending on the vintage, bad years bearing a lower sugar and alcohol content. I had the Givre 2014 which sits at 6% (the upcoming 2015 is apparently 12%). For someone out of Quebec, this feels like a poor man’s ice cider, being very sweet, but still below Quebec’s average ice cider range and with less baked appel complexity, less acidity, but perhaps more texturous tannins, which are fun indeed, but when I’m trying an ice cider, I’m probably shooting for as much sugary complexity as possible and therefore less interested in balance as these products just are never balanced, just like a double IPA or barley wine. It remains a pleasant beverage, but considering it’s trying to bring techniques from abroad to France’s terroir, it’s underwhelming.
375 ml bottle, 2011 vintage sampled in 2016. Practically clear amber body with practically no head. Strong aroma of apples, ripe apples, caramel and some wood. Flavor is very sweet, rich apple with some acidity that saves it from becoming just sticky sweet. It’s more like some kind of sweet desert vine, like Port/Sherry, but with ripe apples instead of grapes, still lots of dry fruit, caramel and some gentle, warming alcohol. Full bodied and long lasting sweet aftertaste. Too sweet to be drank alone, but works fine as a desert wine with some fruit, nuts or cookies.
small 375 ml bottle. Pours dark ruby-ish orange, no head. Intense tannin apple core and stewed apple in the aroma. Very nice and well balanced sweet-apple sour body and rich of tannins, taste is apple, sweet wine and white grapes. Wow, this is such a nice dessert wine/cider.
P.S.: if RB puts ciders on its website, the step to wine is just very small (fruit sugars fermenting to alcoholic beverage). The gap between beers and ciders is bigger than that of ciders to wines... Just sayin’. To all beer aficionados hesitating to try wine - this is the perfect bridge between both. Don’t be afraid to try good wine :-).
375 (I think) corked and foiled tall skinny bottle. Pours a deep crystal clear crimson. Minimal head or lace. Big apple cough syrup nose. Sticky thick gooey body. Tastes and moves like apple cough syrup.
Bottle at Craigs 2016 alldayer. Pours clear amber with no head. Aromas of chief apple and raisins, spice. Taste is sweet, pudding, cloying finish.
bottle at home ... copper .. thin tan lacing .. soft toffee malt nose ... dry dusty apple nose ... dry apple .. soft toffee .. sweet apple ... juicy fruit ... very dank apple .. cake like ... odd
Bottle at craig’s. Pours deep amber, nose is malty, cake, toffee, taste is sweet, fruitcake, apple, rich.
Bottle (2006 vintage).
No head.
Body is murky light brown.
Aroma is notes of caramel, apple juice, apple butter, maple syrup, allspice.
Flavor is heavily sweet, lightly acidic.
Finish is moderately sweet, lightly acidic.
Medium body, watery/syrupy texture, no carbonation, lightly to moderately alcoholic.
Hard to get excited about this, even though I’m a pretty big fan of this ciderie. The aroma has some fun things but is mostly just sugary apple juice. In the mouth, it’s drinkable, but again mostly sweetness. Pretty underwhelming overall.
Millesime 2006. Aroma of old apples & fudge. Clear amber/brown with no head. Intense sweetness & intense dryness at the same time. Medium body, sticky texture, flat carbonation & a very long finish.
La robe est celle d’un jus de pommes à l’ancienne. Le nez offre des parfums de raisins et de pommes avec une richesse très modérée. Le goût montre des saveurs de pommes vieilles, acidulées et sucrées. Le liquide manque de stature. La finale est simplement sucrée. Pas une révélation mais agréable en fin de soirée.
Sample.
Pours hazy brown with no head. Some legs. Aroma is of browned apples, brown sugar, thawed ice cubes. Taste is of lots of brown sugar, "authentic" brown apple juice, sugar, alcohol, slight acidity. Palate: Full bodied. Sweet. Not feeling nice. Sticky. Overall: Not really well integrated. A bit messy. Sweet. Not bad but leagues away from the best stuff. Not really raffiné.
sample. hazy if not cloudy dark amber pour with some legs stickin’ around. spicy and sweet caramel, maple syrup-based taffee, strawberries, baked spiced apple pie - cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.; caramelized almonds, woodsy if not woody character, citrus peel with its welcoming tartness, clean yeast, flat carbonation, medium to full body - oily; lightly tart and woodsy-spicy finish. very spicy ice cider - unique.
Sample, 2 oz. Lightly hazy amber copper pour. Aroma is fruity, light brown sugar, light spice, definitely farmy, funky manure aromas, very wild, old hay, rotten apple. Taste is tart and sweet, nice balance, a bit hevy on the tartness for the style, could use some more residual sugar, nice wild farmy flavors, nice complexity. Palate is med-light bodied, light alcohol warmth, rather dry for the style. Interesting take on the style.
Pours a hazy golden with good legs. Nose is of apples of course but with a slight spiciness to it this time. Taste is pretty acidic and not that sweet, offers some pretty tart apples with light brown sugar. Body is medium and mouthfeel sticky. Overall a fun cryocentrated cider but far from being best in style. Glad to have tried it, though.
Bottled, thx rlgk. Pours dark amber with no real head. Smells and tastes figs, raisins, syrup and a bit candy and some alcohol with a similar finish.
2 oz sample from bottle (375 ml). Thanks to kcherney for the bottle!
Appearance: Hazy amber orange with almost no legs.
Aroma: Cooked apples, nice concentrated farmhouse notes like their Bouché Brut, caramel and peaches notes. Mild spiciness as well.
Taste: Medium sweetness and medium acidity... they balance each other quite well. Cooked apples, caramel, nice farmhouse notes again and mild bitterness.
Palate: Medium body. Moderately thick mouthfeel. Caramel-ish finish. Not much alcohol warmth compared to other ice cider, but this isn’t that surprising considering it’s listed at only 6.9% abv.
Overall: It’s a pretty good product that is unique because of the farmhouse character of their Cidre Bouché Brut de Normandie and also because of the rather low abv for the style. Well balanced. Tasty stuff. I prefer their regular cider though and this one isn’t on the same level as the best ice ciders on the market.
Tasted during Nepenthia. Bottle. Clear orange color. Little ring of head. Few bits of lace. Fantastic sweet yellow fermented apple in the nose. Some vanilla, brown sugar. Bigger sweet taste, but not cloying. Very mild tart. Medium to bigger body. Lightly slick. My sample was very small, but very enjoyable and interesting.
Thanks to Kraddel. Sampled 375 ml. bottle. 2006 Vintage. So this is an ice bock of the famous Dupont Cidre Bouche Brut if I understand the description correctly? Interesting. Pours surprisingly murky for an ice cider, murky dark peach, amber, orange,… Smell is frangipane, apricot, fruity at first surprisingly followed by sticky ice cider apple smell. Taste is huge sweetness upfront, clear oxidation, honey, agave sweetness, lightly warming more typical ice cider taste in the back. Thick fruity body, thick than usual. Interesting & very delicious variation.
2006 vintage .
Pours unclear, amber-like. Smell is very , very fleshy , some apples. Taste is sweet, very full, bit boozy. Some sweet, spiced coockie flavors in the back. Walnuts build up quite damn intense in the aftertate . Very , very nice !
2007 vintage. 375mL bottle, pours a cloudy opaque dark reddish brown with a tiny white head. Aroma is earthy, with dark apple skins, toffee and caramel. Flavour is strange -- very viscous and earthy, with toffee and brown sugar. Quite muffled and confused, but also quite nice. Not overly complex for an ice cider, but quite enjoyable. Nice stuff.
Bottle - Vintage 2007 - Overipe apples. Cloudy copper brown. Sweet Overipe apples, nice sweetness and a long finish. Not the rich syrup sweetness of Canada, but very pleasant.
Bottle, sampled out into mini-snifter glasses. Dark amber, fairly clear. Whiskey-like legs on the glass. Nose is pure liquid caramel apple, with touches of maple and vanilla. Massively sweet and viscous, reminds me of creme brûlée. Butterscotch finish. This was ridiculous.
Bottle direct from the cidery. Burnt orange in colour, no fizz or head. Very sweet on the nose with a little roasted smell. Very sweet with a slightly burnt taste. Very alcoholly apple juice in flavour. Leaves a little burn on the throat. Not particularly my thing but glad I tried it
Bottle at home well half tonight. Pours burnt hazy orange nose of ripened apples and some wood. Tastes of apples, wood, cinnamon, light floral, some fresh dough. Very sweet slight stickiness.
Pours a dark brown caramel color with no head. Aroma is huge, very sweet, sticky, caramel, nutty, candied apple, green apple skins, tart, spice, vanilla, maple syrup. Taste is caramel, smoke, green apple, spicy, vanilla, maple syrup, nutty, thick. Crazy thick mouthfeel, very viscous. Overall a great change from normal stuff, worth the price tag to try once.
Small bottle from Beaumont. Pours a clear reddish copper color with no head of course. A big spicy apple nose, very much like a spiced cider. A oddly smoky flavor, like smoked candied apples, light spices, big sugary apples. Tartness at times, this is very much an apple pie brew. Very tasty. Not as big as others I’ve had. Nothing much to say besides that Ice Ciders are awesome. Winners every time in my book. Merry Christmas.
0,375L bottle. 2008 vintage (7.5% ABV). Pours dark hazy amber, no head. Aroma is very intense apple, sweetness, wood. Flavor is very intense, sweet and sour, apples, wood. Overall: very interesting brew. I have not tasted something like this before.
2011 vintage. Aroma is raisins, apples, sweet, spices, sours. Flavor is sweet and sour, raisins, apples, oak. Overall: great, even better +2 to overall, +1 to aroma.
Shared by martjoobolut, thanks! Vintage 2008, sampled 2014. Pours hazy orange, no head. Nose is oak, apple peel, vanilla, sweetness. Flavor is vanilla, oak, slight spice notes, heavy on the apple peel tartness and sweetness. Lingering sweet vanilla and oak. Very thick and syrupy. Nice one.
Bottled 375 ml, at rlgk + Aniela tasting, USA comes to Göteborg 2014, on October 18, 2014.Vintage 2006.
Thanks to rlgk + Aniela!
Clear copper oxide color, no head, no legs. Sweet, apple, rich, smooth scent. Raisin, sweet, apple, nice, smooth, tobacco taste. Smooth mouthfeel, a bit tart finish.