Lillet Blanc

Lillet Blanc is a French aromatized aperitif wine from the village of Podensac, just south of Bordeaux, made by blending Bordeaux white wine — mostly Sémillon, from the Sauternes and Graves country — with a small proportion of macerated citrus liqueurs, then ageing the marriage in oak. Pale straw-gold and lightly fortified to around 17 percent alcohol, it is softly sweet and honeyed, with orange-blossom and candied-orange perfume, fresh citrus zest, ripe stone fruit, honey and pine-resin. Lighter, sweeter and far less bitter than a vermouth, it is the flagship of the Maison Lillet house, whose bitter quinine-laced predecessor, Kina Lillet, is the original modifier called for in the Vesper Martini. It is served very cold — over ice with an orange slice — as an aperitif, and used across countless cocktails.