Lillet Rose Aperitif 750ml

Maison Lillet was founded in 1872 by brothers Paul and Raymond Lillet in the village of Podensac, just south of Bordeaux, initially as merchants and distillers of fine wines and fruit liqueurs. The house's tradition of quinine infused aperitifs is said to trace back to Father Kermann, a doctor who returned to France from Brazil and began crafting fortified wines with cinchona bark in the Bordeaux region. Lillet Rosé, introduced in 2011 under cellarmaster Jean Bernard Blancheton, was the first new addition to the range in more than fifty years, joining the older Blanc and Rouge styles.

The wine is built from a blend of white Bordeaux grape varieties, primarily Sémillon along with Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle, combined with a complex mix of fruit liqueurs and macerations. Sweet orange peel from Spain and bitter orange peel from Haiti provide the citrus backbone, while a small addition of Lillet Rouge lends the pink hue alongside other regional fruit liqueurs. Peruvian cinchona bark contributes a light quinine bitterness, and the finished blend is aged for a year in oak casks before bottling at 17% alcohol by volume.

The aperitif pours a brilliant salmon pink and opens with aromas of red berries, orange blossom, and grapefruit. On the palate it is fresh and fruit forward, with strawberry and citrus zest balanced against a gentle bitterness and light oak structure from its time in cask. Best served well chilled on its own or over ice, it also forms the base of the brand's popular grapefruit spritz.