Kir

the apéritif of Dijon in two ingredients: a measure of crème de cassis in the bottom of the glass, filled with cold, lean white Burgundy made from the Aligoté grape

Origin: France

From the journey of Currant.

The Kir is the plainest drink in the French repertoire and one of the most exactly judged. It is a measure of crème de cassis in the bottom of a glass and cold white wine poured over, and everything depends on the wine being the right one. Burgundy grows, beside its famous Chardonnay, the Aligoté: a lean, high-acid, sometimes rather severe white that is the natural partner to a very sweet liqueur, since the sugar of the cassis fills out the wine's angles and the wine's acidity keeps the liqueur from cloying. The pairing was a domestic Burgundian habit long before it had a name; what it lacked was a champion, and it found one in Canon Félix Kir, priest, Resistance figure, and mayor of Dijon from 1945 until his death in 1968, who poured it at every civic reception of his long tenure and permitted the local producers to attach his name to it. Behind the civic pride lay a practical purpose, for the Aligoté was a grape few people wanted and the blackcurrant an important local crop, and the mayor was promoting both. The drink is served small, cold, and before a meal, and it is never stirred, since the cassis rises through the wine of its own accord.

Ingredients

  • 15 ml crème de cassis de Dijon
  • 120 ml Bourgogne Aligoté, well chilled
  • 1 twist lemon zest (optional)

Method

  1. Chill the wine thoroughly, to about 8°C, and chill the glass with it. A small tulip wine glass is correct; a flute is for the sparkling version.
  2. Pour the crème de cassis into the bottom of the glass. Fifteen millilitres, roughly a tablespoon, is the classic proportion of one part cassis to eight of wine.
  3. Fill the glass slowly with the cold Aligoté, pouring down the inside of the glass rather than straight onto the liqueur.
  4. Do not stir. Serve at once, with a twist of lemon zest over the top if you like, before a meal and with something salty to hand.
  5. For a Kir Royal, replace the Aligoté with cold Crémant de Bourgogne or Champagne and serve in a flute. For a Kir Communard, or Cardinal, use cold red Burgundy instead.

Notes

Aligoté is the authentic wine and the one the drink was designed around, but any dry, high-acid, unoaked white will serve: Muscadet, Picpoul de Pinet, a lean Sauvignon, or an Italian Pinot Grigio. Avoid oaked Chardonnay, which fights the fruit, and avoid anything with residual sweetness. The quality of the cassis matters more than the price of the wine, and a true crème de cassis de Dijon or a good home-made one will transform the drink. Regional variants abound in France and are worth knowing: Kir Breton uses dry cider in place of the wine, and Kir Normand the same; substituting peach liqueur gives a Kir Pêche, blackberry a Kir Mûre, and chestnut liqueur the Corsican version.

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