Lively Liqueurs: Joseph Cartron

A Best of France selection.

In Nuits-Saint-George, between Dijon and Beaune on Burgundy’s Route des Grands Crus, the family firm of Joseph Cartron has been producing not wine but liqueurs, eaux-de-vie and crèmes de fruits since 1882. When Burgundian winemakers reach for the crème de cassis to make a kir, chances are the label will be Cartron. The company’s distillateurs-liquoristes are known for exacting standards and the top-notch quality of every drop they make—no small task when their line includes five eaux-de-vie, eight crèmes de fruit, several marcs and fines, and over 40 different liqueurs. If cultivated fruits are not flavorful enough, they seek out heirloom or wild varieties, all harvested at the peak of ripeness. Extracting the flavor from so many different fruits, whether by maceration or distillation, at low or high temperatures, is the part of the art: while tangerine peels are boiled in alcohol and distilled for Mandarine, Melon is made from peeled and seeded fruit that slowly macerates for 10 to 12 weeks. Among the more exotic liqueurs: kiwi, lychee, pineapple, mango, passionfruit and cacao; the sweeter, almost syrupy crèmes de fruits include the favorite crème de cassis (black currant) but also wild strawberry and the delicate, pale pêche de vigne.

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Originally published in the December 2008 issue of France Today; updated in December 2010