Vin d'orange

SUMMER COCKTAIL

Makes 7 cups

Two 750ml bottles of dry rosé

1 cup eau de vie or vodka

2/3 cup granulated sugar

450g oranges (4-6 oranges), rinsed well

1 lemon

In a large sealable jar or container, add the rosé, eau de vie and sugar. Gently stir to dissolve the sugar. Halve the oranges and lemon and cut each half into quarters or halves depending on their size. Add the citrus wedges to the jar, then cover and store in the refrigerator or a cool, dark place for 30 days, stirring gently every few days (be careful not to stir too vigorously as extra juice from the citrus wedges makes the final product cloudy).

At 30 days, taste the vin d'orange. It should taste distinctly orange in flavour with a slight bitter edge. It may need a little more sugar and/or it may need to sit longer, up to 40 days total. When the vin d'orange is to your taste, strain through a double layer of cheesecloth into clean bottles or jars, discarding any sediment at the bottom of the container. Stored in tightly sealed containers, vin d'orange will keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 year. 

Serve chilled over ice, or in a Vd’O (see the recipe below).

Vd’O

For 1

80ml vin d’orange

30ml cognac or brandy

15ml orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier or Cointreau

60ml soda water

1 orange wheel

In a mixing glass or shaker with ice, combine the vin d'orange, cognac and orange liqueur. Stir with a cocktail stirrer for 15 seconds, until the cocktail is very cold. Strain into an ice-filled lowball glass, then top with the soda water. Add the orange wheel and serve

Note: If you don’t have vin d'orange, use 2 ½ ounces (80 ml) Lillet Blanc or Lillet Rosé 

This is an edited extract from Le Sud: Recipes + Stories from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur by Rebekah Peppler (Chronicle, $55).