Kir belongs to Dijon, the Burgundy city whose Prenois circuit hosted five French Grands Prix. The drink is older than its name: Burgundians had long mixed their sharp local white wine with the blackcurrant liqueur made around the city. It took the name of Canon Félix Kir, a priest, wartime resistance figure and mayor of Dijon from 1945 to 1968, who served it at every civic reception and so did more for the local wine and cassis trade than any advertising campaign.

The classic white wine is Bourgogne Aligoté, a lean, lemony Burgundy grape whose acidity balances the sweet fruit. Pour it with Champagne and it becomes a kir royal, which is what Reims would recommend. The great virtue of the kir is speed: it is an aperitif that takes less time to make than to say.

The kir

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon (10 to 15 ml) crème de cassis
• 3 1/2 oz (100 ml) chilled Bourgogne Aligoté or other very dry white wine

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