I always just plain kirs before dinner, even at home in Seattle. And my friends in Paris and Geneva drink kir, port (I thought that was strange too, but it's true) and of course martini, not to be confused with our martinis this is sweet vermouth.

After dinner I also like DiSarano amaretto. YUM! or of course a nice Sauterne. (sp)

I just browsed some restaurant menus and found Sauternes listed as an apéritif. Maybe that's the answer about port: the French like sweet drinks before dinner...port, Sauternes, Beaume de Venise, all of those.

I'm bringing this one up because we discovered a couple of new aperitifs on our recent (as in just got back last night) trip to the Loire Valley and Berry:
1. Pousse Rapiere. Pousse Rapiere is an Armagnac liqueur. According to the bottle (we brought one home with us) to make the proper Pousse Rapiere aperitif, it's one part Pousse Rapiere to 6 parts Brut de Montluc or a good champagne (or a nice Cremant de Loire if you're in the LV). Orange slice is an optional topping.
2. Orange Columbo. It's an aperitif with a wine and orange base. Mixed with white wine. Orango Columbo is made by Henri Bardouin (HB), known for its premium pastis line.

We saw both of these offered in numerous places, from Angers to Sancerre.

apéritif and digestif is traditionally about aiding ones digestion. The standard practise is to combing bitter before, e.g. a campari, and a sweet digestif afterwards in the form of a liqueur.

I always favour a campari and soda, a timeless classic.

My French (Alsatian) ancestors and my German (Karlruhe) paternal GM were peasants and drank only the wonderful wines of Alsace, FR!
M

Sorry, GM was born in Karlsruhe.
M

Oui ! French people have red port for the aperitif... which is not supposed to be right way for British and Portuguese people.
As a matter of fact, in Portugal people tend to have chilled white port for aperitif (pretty nice too!).

Hi

here, as well as Ricard and port, ice cold muscat de lunel is often taken as an aperitif.

Others are Carthagen and a melange of rose with blackberry cordial.

Peter
The Languedoc Page
http://tlp.netfirms.com

I seem to have trouble having myself understood when I order Kir. What is the pronunciation? I guess I say something like "keer".

"keer" is correct, with the French "r" at the end of course - though I shouldn't think the average French person would have a problem even if you pronounced the "r" incorrectly.

jeeez...between this "thread" and the aperifs thread, I've now got a dinner party for tomorrow night (I'll run around tonight and shop..sigh.. if only I could go the the "market" with my cloth/mesh bag...by little dog on its leash...stop by the cafe ...) In a parallel universe that's what I am doing!

whoops... I mean the recipe thread...