Kir et Kir Royal

The Kir—a glass of chilled Aligoté white wine with a measure of crème de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur)—is Burgundy’s signature apéritif and one of the most replicated drinks in France, named after Canon Félix Kir, the legendary mayor of Dijon from 1945 to 1968. The drink’s origins are pragmatic: after World War II, Burgundy’s red wine stocks were depleted (requisitioned by the German occupation), and Kir promoted the local Aligoté (a secondary white grape often dismissed as too acidic) sweetened and flavoured with the region’s crème de cassis to create a drink that was simultaneously patriotic, economical, and delicious. The canonical proportions are one-fifth cassis to four-fifths Aligoté (approximately 20ml cassis to 80ml wine), though this varies by personal preference and the cassis’s sweetness. The Kir Royal substitutes Crémant de Bourgogne (or champagne for the extravagant) for the Aligoté, creating a sparkling, festive version. Beyond the glass, Kir has genuine culinary applications: the cassis-wine combination reduces beautifully into a sauce for duck breast, game birds, and pork (reduce 200ml Kir Royal to 50ml, mount with butter, season—the result is a shimmering, ruby-red sauce of exquisite fruit-acid balance). Crème de cassis itself is a Burgundian product of distinction—the best, from producers like L’Héritier-Guyot and Gabriel Boudier in Dijon, is made from the Noir de Bourgogne blackcurrant variety and contains a minimum of 400g sugar per litre with 15% ABV, producing an intensely fruity, deeply coloured liqueur.

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