Apéritif

“Apéritif is French, but its root comes from Latin and literally means – to open.”

Apéritif is French, but its root comes from Latin and literally means – to open. In this case, to open our digestive system to the coming meal. Perhaps the earliest use of this word was in ancient Greece, where preparing the digestive system for a meal was specifically mentioned. However, in 19thcentury France, a chemist created a wine-based drink flavoured with some herbs and wild grasses, called apéritif, for medicinal purposes. His wife quite enjoyed this concoction and served it to her friends. This word became well known in the 19thcentury and the practice of enjoying an apéritif spread throughout Europe. 

It’s no secret that, regardless of the historic period in which people have lived, they have always treated themselves to fine dining, and having quality drinks to go with those meals – before, during, and after – went hand in hand. Today, apéritifs can be categorized in several beverage groups: wine and sparkling wine, vermouth and herb tinctures, fortified wine, various distilled beverages, and, of course, cocktails. 

In the case of wine, it should be dry, fresh, and light white wine with a hint of tartness, but not too high an alcohol content, such as the famous Chablis, Riesling, Albariño orMuscadet Serve et Meine (not to be confused with the fruity and sweet Muscat). It should be noted that these types of white wines can be enjoyed in virtually any wine-producing country or region that produces typical and authentic styles of wine.

Possibly the most popular apéritif that people choose, especially in restaurants before a meal, is sparkling wine, specifically champagne. It appears that bubbles have a magical power, because they give a meal a celebratory and happy mood. Other popular sparking wines are the Italian Prosecco, French Crémant, Spanish Cava, or German Sekt. The most important thing is that they be dry – Brut, Extra Brut, orBrut Nature. That indicates the amount of sugar or how dry they are. If you add just a few drops of creme de cassis(black currant liquor from France), you’ll get the famous French apéritif Kir Royal.

A very popular type of apéritif is vermouth. It comes dry, sweet, and also pink. Similar to many herb and wild grass tinctures, historically, it has had great significance and popularity, particularly in Italy and France where it is enjoyed slightly chilled alone, or in various classic cocktails, such as Dry Martini, Campari/Orange, Aperol spritz, or Negroni.

Another popular type of beverage, chosen more rarely to be enjoyed as an aperitif, is fortified wine (particularly in Latvia). The most popular are certainly sherry, port wine, Madeira and Vins Doux Naturels. Sherry offers several dry varieties, such as Manzanilla, Fino, and Amontillado, which are excellent appetite stimulators. They should definitely be served slightly chilled. Port wine and Vins Doux Naturels (a popular fortified wine group in France) are general sweet, and, in my opinion, better suited at the end of a meal. But this has never stopped the Portuguese or French from enjoying them both as a start to and also end of a meal. If you can find the relatively rare white port wine, which can be both dry and sweet, then, lightly chilled, it will be an enjoyable aperitivo, as the Portuguese would say.

Yet another beverage group is distilled grape and anise drinks, which have gained great popularity in Europe, particularly in the Mediterranean region. The Greek anise-flavoured Ouzo, served chilled before a meal, is possibly the most popular of this type of drink. Other popular drinks like this are the French Pastis, Italian Sambuca, and Turkish Raki.

Equally important to these “straight” drinks are apéritif cocktails, and with the increased popularity of cocktail bars, many various types of cocktails have been created. Cocktails must be refreshing and stimulate the appetite. You won’t go wrong with traditional cocktails based on vermouth, gin, whiskey, or Campari, such as the Negroni, Martini, Manhattan, or Adonis.

In total, the most important thing to understand is that every country has its traditions, which explain the choice of apéritif. Whether it is champagne for the French, sherry for the Spaniards, or even beer for the Latvians, this drink should be served with relish and should encourage conversation at the table! Cheers!

Story and pictures: Signe Meirane
Camera: Sony Alpha 7s