Kir cocktail

History

The Kir is undoubtedly the most consumed aperitif in France, it is a cocktail whose composition has been wrongly generalized, many people believe that it is composed of a simple wine white accompanied by crème de cassis. No, a kir is not made with just any white wine but with "Bourgogne aligoté".

However, kirs were once called "blancs cassis" until Canon Félix Kir gave his name to the cocktail. Félix Kir was born in 1876, was ordained a priest in 1901, and received the Legion of Honor in 1946, the same year he became mayor of Dijon.

As soon as Félix Kir was elected in 1946, the "Kirs" were served at every event in Dijon and made themselves known under this new name, the kir then began to become famous.

The original kir recipe was made with 1/3 crème de cassis and 2/3 Bourgogne Aligoté. The presence of so much crème de cassis was made to conceal the then acid taste of Bourgogne Aligoté.

Later, the liqueur house Lejay-Lagoutte was authorized by the mayor to market the blanc-cassis under the name of "kir". 12 years later, other liquorists have the mayor's agreement to market kir, but the brand is already registered by Lejay-Lagoutte. Many lawsuits took place, but the Court of Cassation decided in 1992 that only the Lejay-Lagoutte house could be the owner of the "Un kir" brand.