Fair Play

Fair Play by Natasha David

The perfect toast for this wine presentation puzzle box would be a glass of wine! So anyone who wishes will easily be able to replicate that at home, just uncork and pour. But of course, I love cocktails too, and thought that a wine-based cocktail would be a nice expression for my friends in Lodeve, France, where this box is made. Many of the aperitifs, liqueurs and amaros you will find as components in the many cocktails I have featured over time are all wine based and started life as wine. Vermouth, sherry, and port, for example, are all made from wine which has been either infused with herbs and botanicals, or fortified with a stronger spirit such as brandy, or both.

How to play fair

Lillet is an aromatized aperitif from France which features Bordeaux region wines like Semillon for the classic blanc version, which is fortified with citrus liqueurs made from peels and bitter roots and then aged on oak casks. The original formulation from 1872, which included quinine from Chinchona bark, was known as a “tonic” wine for that reason. It was an essential ingredient in the famous “Vesper” martini invented by James Bond. Celebrated bartender Natasha David makes wonderful wine based cocktails and is a champion of drinks with a lower overall alcohol content. Of Lillet Blanc, she says in her book Drink Lightly, “A gorgeous fragrant wine that feels like you are lying on a bed of orange blossoms while being fed vanilla pudding.” Um, yes please? Her Lillet Blanc cocktail is a perfect summer diversion and couldn’t make for a better cocktail toast to the Oenologic box as it combines three separate French wines. You only need to open the box to enjoy one … a votre sante!

a vintage pair

Fair Play by Natasha David

1 ½ oz Lillet Blanc

½ oz Suze

½ oz dry vermouth

½ oz bourbon

1 heaping barspoon orange marmalade

Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a rocks glass with a large cube. Orange wheel garnish.

explore more: