Forget limoncello! How Lillet became the fruity, floral drink of the summer

Lillet spritz is a summery drink made by mixing Lillet with spritz-style ingredients, producing honey-scented, golden bubbles. Lillet appears on spritz menus in UK pubs and is a staple in French-style restaurants and Gallic bars, including venues that pair it with activities like petanque. It is also served internationally, with global sales growing from 70,000 cases in 2008 to 1.3 million in 2024. Lillet is an aromatised wine containing at least 75% wine plus herbs, spices, fruits, and sweeteners, with an ABV of 14.5% to 22% (17% for Lillet). It is fruit-and-floral rather than purely herbal, using liqueurs from sweet, bitter, and green oranges. The brand traces back to 1872, with Kina Lillet launched in 1887 and later reformulated into Lillet Blanc.

"Lillet is classed as an aromatised wine, meaning a drink that is at least 75% wine, with added herbs, spices, fruits and sweeteners, and an ABV of 14.5% to 22% (Lillet is 17%). Most aromatised wines are made in France and Italy; the best-known variety is vermouth. But while vermouths have a herbal flavour, Lillet is more fruity and floral, flavoured with liqueurs made from the fruit and peel of various sweet, bitter and green oranges."

"The company was founded in Podensac, Bordeaux, in 1872 by brothers Raymond and Paul Lillet. They launched Kina Lillet in 1887 as a medicinal tonic wine, high in fever-fighting quinine. The Kina part was dropped in the 1970s and the recipe reformulated in 1985, toning down the sugar and quinine for modern tastes; this is what we now know as Lillet Blanc. It is made from 85% semillon and sauvignon blanc wine and 15% fruit liqueur, and aged in oak casks."

"In the UK, it is on the spritz menu at Greene King and Young's pubs for a second summer. It is a staple in French-style restaurants such as Cote Brasserie and Cafe Rouge, and in Gallic bars such as Boulebar and Baranis, where punters can play petanque while they drink. Venues around the world have started to serve it too, from Wolf food market in Brussels to Bar Bridge in Sydney."

"Global sales are reported to have grown from 70,000 cases in 2008 to 1.3m in 2024. Since then, I've started seeing Lillet more often. In the UK, it is on the spritz menu at Greene King and Young's pubs for a second summer. It is a staple in French-style restaurants such as Cote Brasserie and Cafe Rouge, and in Gallic bars such as Boulebar and Baranis, where punters can play petanque while they drink."

Read at www.theguardian.com