Bordeaux is not only famous for the fact that it is a World Heritage Site, or that it is at the heart of the best wine-growing area of the world, or where the best wines are produced and the at the core of wine tourism. It is also the home of one of the most delicious aperitifs -- a specialty of this region -- Lillet.Paul and Raymond Lillet, distillers and merchants of fine wines, introduced their first bottles of Lillet to the public back in 1972.
Lillet is a blend of wines from the most prestigious wine growing areas of the world (85%) and fruit liqueurs (15%) that result in this deliciously sweetish -- but not too sweet, alcoholic but refreshing, lingeringly flavoursome drink. The liqueurs used in the blend are made from sweet oranges from Spain, bitter oranges from Haiti, green oranges from Morocco and Tunisia and cinchona bark (quinine) from Peru.
There are 8 phases in the long and slow making of Lillet -- from the selection of the finest wines, the importation and preparation of the best fruits from around the world, fermentation of the wine in oak barrels, the making of the fruit liqueurs, the blending of the wine and liqueur, maturation and bottling. All this takes place in the delightful little village of Podensac -- in the heart of the Graves vineyards of the Bordeaux wine-growing area, only 30 kilometers south of Bordeaux.
Lillet is probably as well known for its exceptional taste as for its advertising campaigns over the last 160 years. The posters, and especially the beautifully crafted promotional fans -- which bore the exotic and unique Lillet designs, which were handed out at theatres and in restaurants and wine bars, can now be seen on private collections and museums. Look out for the bright posters -- even the copies have become collectors' pieces! The production plant is open from 15 June to 15 September from 10h00 to 18h00 -- well worth a visit when you are in the Bordeaux area!
And in the mean time, treat yourself to glass of Lillet -- well chilled, with a small piece of frozen orange and a sprig of mint, poured over a half glass of ice cubes.
Recipes:
Frozen orange, lime and lemon slices:
Wash the unpeeled fruit well.
Cut the lemons and oranges in slices of about 1/2 cm. (leave the skin on)
Place the slices separately on a flat cookie sheet on a shelf in the freezer for about 24 hours.
When the slices are well frozen, place them in a plastic container with a lid and keep in the freezer until needed.
Use the slices or part of the slices in cocktails and iced drinks.
Lillet cocktails:
Lillet Mojito:
Ingredients for one glass:
2 oz White Lillet
4 ice cubes
2 tablespoons crushed ice
3-4 leaves fresh mint
2 lime wedges
1 teaspoon simple syrup
Tonic water or Perrier
In a glass crush the lime and mint with the simple syrup.
Add the crushed ice and Lillet
Top with tonic water or Perrier and ice cubes.
Dessert
Fruit gratin and white Lillet Sabayon
Serves 4
1 1/2 lb assorted seasonal fruit
1/2 cup Lillet white
3/4 lb sugar
Juice of one orange
9 egg yolks
10 fresh mint leaves
Prepare a fruit salad with the fruit.
Macerate the fruit salad for 6 hours with the Lillet, 3 tablespoons sugar and the orange juice.
Mix the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until the micture whitens.
Gently heat while continuing to whisk
Set aside
Drain the fruit salad and transfer to dessert plates that are oven proof
Cover with the sabauon and grill until golden
Garnish with the mint leaves.
The above are recipes with white Lillet -- the orange flavoured Lillet.
There is also a red Lillet -- flavoured with red fruits -- a different, richerr and fuller taste.
Ad when you do visit the Lillet plant at Podensac, why not do so on 25 November 2007 -- in two weeks' time -- for the famous Foire de St Catherine!Click on Link:
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