Fruirouge Creme de Cassis 2025

Tucked into a sleepy hamlet just over the western ridge of the Côte de Nuits lies the Ferme Fruirouge. The Olivier family has made cremes here for nine generations, and the farm itself dates back four centuries. Today they raise their fruits organically and biodynamically, and their crèmes are the cleanest, purest, most intense extraction of fruit we’ve ever seen. The hints of cassis we often describe in pinot noir are maximized here, and the taste is an extraordinary distillation of fruit.

We add a splash of crème de cassis to a glass of Picamelot crémant for a delicious, attractive, effortless (and cheap) aperitif – a “kir bourguignon” if you will. Other ideas include a traditional kir (cassis and aligoté), communard (cassis and pinot noir), or cassis drizzled on crepes. (You can add it to champagne too, of course, though we think the cassis is flavorful enough that the trade up from crémant generally isn’t worth it.)