Kir

Dry white Burgundy and crème de cassis — named for Félix Kir, Dijon's mayor from 1945 to 1968, who served the vin blanc cassis at every official reception.

Kir is the simple French aperitif combining dry white Burgundy wine — most traditionally Aligoté, the secondary white grape variety of Burgundy — with a small measure of crème de cassis, the blackcurrant liqueur produced in Burgundy since at least the mid-19th century. The preparation was named for and popularized by Félix Kir, born in 1876, who served as mayor of Dijon — the administrative and cultural capital of Burgundy's Côte-d'Or department — from 1945 until his death in 1968 at age 92. Kir had been an active member of the French Resistance and a Catholic canon, and his post-Liberation mayoral tenure was defined by his systematic promotion of Burgundy's agricultural economy. He served the wine-and-cassis combination at every official municipal reception and diplomatic function, establishing it as the standard Dijonnais hospitality gesture across the two decades of his mayoralty. The preparation pre-existed Kir's promotion of it — it had been called vin blanc cassis (white wine with blackcurrant) — but became internationally known as a Kir through his advocacy, demonstrating the commercial power of consistent political and institutional endorsement.