#Paris In July Kir Royale

Medici Fountain, Jardin du Luxembourg

1. If there is one cocktail that has a
2. …special place in my heart….it is Kir Royale.
3. It was my first cocktail.
4. I was 18  and studying in  Paris for two months.
5. One evening I went to  La Comédie française.
6. It was Molière Le Misanthrope and
7. …honestly…I didn’t understand much of it.
8. But later I  went to a café with friends and met ‘Kir Royale’ !

Kir Royale:  sparkling wine (or champagne) + crème de cassis liqueur

1. The Kir Royale—is named after Félix Kir.
2. He was the mayor of Dijon who helped popularize the white-wine version of the drink.
3. I’m using  Joseph Cartron Crème de Cassis de Bourgogne.
4. Crème de Cassis was one of Hercule Poirot’s favorite drinks!

1. I’m using sparkling wine:  Blanquette de Limoux instead of champagne.
2. Blanquette de Limoux was first  made in a Benedictine Abbey in SW France.
3. This wine  predates champagne and
4. ….is in fact France’s oldest sparkling wine.
5. Thomas Jefferson loved it, and served it to guests when he was president.
6. Jefferson was America’s first oenophile.
7. At his home at Monticello, his household consumed about 400 bottles of wine  per year.
8. All came from Europe, because in the early 19th century
9. …wine grapes couldn’t yet be grown in North America.

Blanquette de Limoux:

1. Limoux is the birthplace of high-quality sparkling wine production in France.
2. Grape: 100% Mauzac known as blanquette due to the white coating on its leaves.
3. Taste: beautiful dryness matched up with a zing of apples.
4. It is a  lovely glass of sparkling that’s much
5. ….more interesting than any cava or prosecco.

Trivia:

1. Jefferson insisted the wine be delivered in  bottles, not casks.
2. In this way the bottles were at least secure and c
3. …couldn’t be watered down or filched by unscrupulous merchants or
4. …thirsty crew members.

 

N@ncy’s bar:

• 2/3 c  sparkling wine (160 ml)
• 1 TB crème de cassis  (15 ml)
• There are also those that prefer…
• 2 TB crème de cassis (30 ml)  to
• 1/2 c sparkling wine (120 ml)
• ...too rich for me…but you may like it.
• Glass: champagne flute or champagne coupe
• Garnish: optional….strawberry or black berry on the rim of glass!

 

France’s best kept secret…wines from Languedoc!

Conclusion:

1. Elegant and easy….with just 2 ingredients.
2. Taste: this Blanquette de Limoux tastes much more tart
3. ..than my trusty Martini prosecco!
   
4. It is also twice as expensive.
5. The black current liqueur balances perfectly to
6. …produce a  unforgettable  cocktail!
7. I feel 18 again!
8. If you have a bottle of sparkling wine in the fridge
9. …you are always ready for a celebration!
10. Excellent choice for a festive cocktail for
11. …birthday, Christmas
12. …or New Year!