Lillet Rouge Aperitif 750ml

Maison Lillet was founded in 1872 by brothers Paul and Raymond Lillet, merchants of fine wine and spirits in Podensac, just south of Bordeaux, who began producing aromatized wines flavored with cinchona bark and citrus peels. While the house's white Kina Lillet became the more famous expression thanks to its role in the original Vesper Martini, Lillet Rouge actually predates that fame in its own way, having been created in 1962 at the request of an American importer looking to capitalize on the growing American appetite for red wine.

Lillet Rouge is built on a base of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Bordeaux, a formula that was refined in the early 1990s to use higher quality base wines for a more complex result. As with the rest of the range, this wine base is blended with regional fruit liqueurs macerated separately from sweet and bitter orange peels, along with Peruvian cinchona bark for a touch of quinine bitterness, before the finished blend spends about a year aging in oak casks. It is bottled at 17% alcohol by volume.

In the glass, Lillet Rouge shows a clear, deep ruby red color. The nose combines ripe dark fruits like blackberry and plum with a light oak character, while the palate brings fresh orange, ripe berries, and vanilla alongside delicate spice and a persistent, mildly bitter quinine edge. The finish leans dry and tannic, giving it more structure and grip than its lighter Blanc and Rosé counterparts, and it holds up well in richer cocktails such as a Negroni riff or spiced sangria.