Lillet


Lillet, classed as an aromatised wine within EU law, is a French wine-based aperitif from Podensac. It is a blend of 85% Bordeaux region wines and 15% macerated liqueurs, mostly citrus liqueurs. The mix is then stirred in oak vats until blended. During the aging process, Lillet is handled as a Bordeaux wine.
In the original Kina Lillet formulation, quinine liqueur made of cinchona bark from Peru was included among its ingredients. "Lillet" belongs to a family of aperitifs known as tonic wines because of the addition of quinine liqueur.

Varieties

In 1872, the brothers Paul and Raymond Lillet, distillers and merchants of wines and spirits, founded their company La Maison Lillet in Podensac, south of Bordeaux, France. The idea of making aperitifs in Bordeaux came from Father Kermann, a doctor who left Brazil at the beginning of Louis XVI's reign. Back in France, he settled in Bordeaux, where he produced liqueurs and fortifiers from plants such as quinine. During that time, Bordeaux became one of the most important places for the European wine business. It was also France's main harbour for products imported from the Caribbean islands.
At the end of the 19th century, people developed a great fear of illness as a consequence of the discoveries made by Louis Pasteur. Nevertheless, "Wine", Pasteur said, "can be considered with good reason as the most healthful and the most hygienic of all beverages". As a result, tonic wines became very popular as quinine was used to fight fevers and ease malaria symptoms.
In 1887, Pierre and Raymond Lillet created Kina Lillet. Originally blanc, when all other aperitifs were red, Lillet was the only aperitif from a specific geographic location, one of the most famous, the Bordeaux region, or more precisely Great Sauternes region.
During the 1920s, Lillet exports greatly increased in Europe and Africa. The brand also became famous in France, thanks to advertising campaigns. At the same time, Lillet was served on transatlantic liners, part of the reason for its success with high society in New York. American bartenders used it for making fashionable cocktails.
In 1962, Pierre Lillet, grandson of Raymond, keen to capitalize on America's growing taste for red wine, created Lillet Rouge for the American market.
In the early part of the 1970s, Maison Lillet removed "Kina" from the brand name calling it simply Lillet. "Kina" had become a generic term used by many aperitifs to emphasise their quinine content, and was no longer relevant for the times. Lillet is the name of the family, and became the only name of the brand.
To improve the quality and sustainability of the Lillet recipe, in 1985, Lillet was reformulated, after close work with the Bordeaux University's Institute of Oenology, applying modern oenology. To improve the balance between acidity and sweetness, the sugar content was slightly reduced, giving priority to the fruitiness while maintaining the same quinine bitterness concentration.
In 2011, under cellarmaster Jean Bernard Blancheton, rosé Lillet version was introduced aimed at female consumers.

Advertising and arts

Lillet is an aperitif wine, intended to be served well chilled at 6–8 °C. In France, Lillet is usually served on ice with a slice of orange, or a lemon or lime peel. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland Lillet blanc is more often served as a Lillet Vive, a Lillet blanc long drink. A Lillet Vive is 5cl Lillet blanc, 10cl tonic water, a slice of cucumber, a strawberry and mint leaves.
In other countries, especially in the US and UK, it is more often used as a cocktail ingredient. The best known Lillet cocktails are the Vesper, the Corpse Reviver #2, the 20th Century and the Old Etonian. Recipes appear in cocktail books including The Bartender's Bible by Gary Regan, the Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock and the Complete World Bartender Guide by Bob Sennett. In the 1930s the Savoy Cocktail Book published 22 Lillet cocktails recipes.
A Lillet spritz is a two-ingredient cocktail in which with white or rosé Lillet is mixed with sparkling water and a garnish such as mint, berries, cranberries, or thyme sprigs. In the USA a booklet titled "The Lillet Book of Apertif Cocktails" was distributed with bottles of Lillet. It included a recipe which described a "Lillet Spritz" as "3 parts Lillet Blanc or Lillet Rose and 3 parts tonic water. Build over 3 large ice cubes in a tall wine glass and garnish with cucumber, mint and strawberry."

Appearances in popular culture

• 1950s: The Duchess of Windsor, the American spouse of Edward VIII, was a great admirer of Lillet. She introduced Lillet to the high society, particularly at Fauchon, and into the upper-class hotels Parisian as George V or Ritz where she stayed regularly.
• 1953: in the first Ian Fleming James Bond novel Casino Royale, James Bond invents and orders a Kina Lillet martini, which he named the "Vesper" after his love interest in the story: "A dry martini," he said. "One. In a deep champagne goblet." "Oui, Monsieur." "Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon-peel. Got it?" "Certainly, monsieur." The barman seems pleased with the idea."
The Vesper dry martini appears in the Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace films.
• 1981: “Lillet” is the preferred drink of serial killer Hannibal Lecter in the series of books written by Thomas Harris.
• 2006 and 2008: The Vesper was again prepared for James Bond in the remake of Casino Royale and its follow up Quantum of Solace.