Lise Baccara La Troussépinète Aperitif Wine 750ml

Troussépinète has a genuinely unusual origin story — it emerged in the Vendée, a coastal region just north of Cognac, and is believed to have first been made clandestinely, by unofficial distillers who had never been granted legal distilling rights by French authorities. In earlier centuries, wealthier drinkers flavored their mediocre local wines with expensive imported spices — cinnamon, ginger, cloves, rose petals. Farmers with smaller means had no such luxury, so they turned to what grew abundantly around them instead: blackthorn bushes, whose French name, "épinète," gives the wine its own name. Troussépinète became the working farmer's answer to spiced wine, made entirely from what the local hedgerows already offered.

Lise Baccara's version was created by Gérard Pagnon, a small wine grower and liquoriste working in the Cognac region, using what the importer describes as the genuine, ancient original recipe — one of several methods that exist for making troussépinète, but the one Pagnon has chosen to preserve. Young blackthorn shoots are harvested each spring, sliced, and left to macerate in low-alcohol cognac for one to two months, slowly releasing their sap. Wine — red, in this case — is then blended in, along with a measure of sugar, with the final blend adjusted to exactly 17% ABV before filtering and bottling. Worth knowing: the blackthorn bush's botanical name is Prunus spinosa, the same shrub responsible for sloe berries — but the berries themselves are never used here. It's only the spring shoots, carrying their own distinctive sap and almond-like flavor, that go into the bottle.

The results have earned genuine, serious recognition. At the 2012 Ultimate Spirits Challenge, La Troussépinète took home the Chairman's Trophy with a score of 96 points, rated "Extraordinary" and given the competition's "Ultimate Recommendation" — the top prize awarded to any aperitif that year. Wine Enthusiast followed in 2018 with 92 Points, describing "this 'red dessert wine' from the Cognac region" as offering "rich, compote-like aromas and a bold, fruity palate that shows raspberry jam, juicy cherry pie filling and a hint of vanilla, finishing with a mouthwatering plum skin pucker on the exit." The official tasting notes describe intense cherry flavors, red grapes, and pitted plum, closing on a dry, tart finish — a genuinely distinctive, historically rooted French aperitif with real critical validation behind it.

Origins & Craftsmanship

Troussépinète originated in the Vendée, a coastal region north of Cognac, believed to have first been made clandestinely by unofficial local distillers who lacked legal permission to distill under French authorities of the time. The tradition emerged from a genuinely practical necessity: while wealthier households flavored their wine with costly imported spices, farmers with more modest means and ordinary local wine turned instead to the blackthorn bushes growing freely throughout the region — giving the resulting drink its name, drawn from the French word for blackthorn bush, "épinète."

Lise Baccara's Troussépinète was created by Gérard Pagnon, a small wine grower and liquoriste based in the Cognac region, following what the brand describes as the original, ancient recipe among several regional variations. Young blackthorn shoots are harvested each spring, sliced, and macerated in low-alcohol cognac for one to two months to release their natural sap. Red wine is then blended into the macerate, along with sugar, and the finished blend is adjusted to a final alcohol content of 17% before filtering and bottling. The blackthorn bush, botanically Prunus spinosa, is the same plant that produces sloe berries — though only the spring shoots, rich in sap and carrying a distinctive almond-like character, are used in production; the berries themselves play no role in this wine.

Critics Reviews

Chairman's Trophy, 96 Points — "Extraordinary, Ultimate Recommendation" — Ultimate Spirits Challenge, 2012 (top prize awarded to an aperitif that year)

Wine Enthusiast — 92 Points (2018):
"This 'red dessert wine' from the Cognac region offers rich, compote-like aromas and a bold, fruity palate that shows raspberry jam, juicy cherry pie filling and a hint of vanilla finishing with a mouthwatering plum skin pucker on the exit."

Lise Baccara / Heavenly Spirits (official tasting notes):
"The red Troussépinète displays intense cherry flavors, red grapes and pitted plum with a dry tart finish."

Tasting Profile

Nose
Rich, compote-like aromas lead, with intense cherry and red grape character, joined by pitted plum and a hint of vanilla.

Palate
Bold and fruity, delivering raspberry jam and juicy cherry pie filling alongside pitted plum, with the blackthorn shoots' subtle almond-like sap character woven throughout.

Finish
Dry and tart, closing with a mouthwatering plum-skin pucker — a genuinely distinctive close that balances the wine's rich, jammy fruit against real structural acidity.

Quick Overview

Food Pairings

• Prosciutto ham
• Melon
• Blue cheese
• Chocolate-based cake and desserts

Serving Note

Enjoy chilled, as an aperitif alongside prosciutto, melon, or blue cheese, or as a dessert wine paired with any chocolate-based cake. Also works well as a cocktail component.