Lillet Blanc: Lillet, classed as an aromatised wine within EU law, is a French wine-based aperitif from Podensac. It is a blend of 85% Bordeaux region wines (Semillon for the Blanc and for the Rosé, Merlot for the Rouge) and 15% macerated liqueurs, mostly citrus liqueurs (peels of sweet oranges from Spain and Morocco and peels of bitter green oranges from Haiti). The mix is then stirred in oak vats until blended. During the aging process, Lillet is handled as a Bordeaux wine (undergoing fining, racking, filtering etc.). In the original Kina Lillet formulation (so named with respect to its status as a quinquina), quinine liqueur made of cinchona bark from Peru was included among its ingredients. "Lillet" belongs to a family of aperitifs known as tonic wines because of the addition of quinine liqueur. The Lillet Blanc is a sweeter variant of the white-wine-based version with reduced quinine flavoring. It replaced Kina Lillet.
Chartreuse: Chartreuse is a French herbal liqueur available in green and yellow versions that differ in taste and alcohol content. The liqueur has been made by the Carthusian monks since 1737 according to the instructions set out in a manuscript given to them by François Annibal d'Estrées in 1605. It was named after the monks' Grande Chartreuse monastery, located in the Chartreuse Mountains north of Grenoble. Today the liqueur is produced in their distillery in nearby Aiguenoire. It is composed of distilled alcohol aged with 130 herbs, plants and flowers. According to tradition, a marshal of artillery to French king Henry IV, François Hannibal d'Estrées, presented the Carthusian monks at Vauvert, near Paris, with an alchemical manuscript that contained a recipe for an "elixir of long life" in 1605. The recipe eventually reached the religious order's headquarters at the Grande Chartreuse monastery, north of Grenoble. The formula is said to include 130 herbs, plants and flowers and secret ingredients combined in a wine alcohol base. The recipe was further enhanced in 1737 by Brother Gérome Maubec. The beverage soon became popular, and in 1764 the monks adapted the elixir recipe to make what is now called the "Elixir Végétal de la Grande Chartreuse".