Vedrenne Aperitif 'Le Birlou' (Chestnut & Apple Liqueur) 20% 700ml

Joseph Védrenne, a trained engineer, founded Vedrenne in 1923 with a deliberate decision: he set the distillery in Nuits-Saint-Georges, where the slopes above the famous Burgundy vineyards were planted with the dense-skinned Noir de Bourgogne blackcurrant — and where he could process fruit hours after picking, before any aromatic loss. That fruit-to-still proximity remains the house's defining advantage a century later.

The early business specialised in maceration of single fruits in neutral spirit: blackcurrants, raspberries, peaches, sloe, cherry. The headline Supercassis, a 20% concentration crème de cassis, sits at the upmarket end of the category alongside the standard 16% reference. The house's range expanded over the twentieth century into violet, chestnut, peach-de-vigne, mirabelle, and a number of two-fruit cocktail bases.

Vedrenne was acquired by Marie Brizard in 1987, then by the Renaud-Cointreau family in 1997, who merged it with verveine specialist Pagès. The two houses now operate from the original Nuits-Saint-Georges site plus a secondary distillery in Dordogne. In 2017, Vedrenne was awarded Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant status by the French Ministry for the Economy, recognising continuity of artisanal production methods.

Served chilled or over ice as an aperitif, lengthened with cider or sparkling water; useful on a winter cocktail list as a cognac or calvados partner.