The French company's origins date back to 1866, when two brothers, Simon and Pallade Violet, who worked in the fabric industry, began to produce a flavoured wine in the southern French town of Thuir (Roussillon). The date of the company's foundation is considered to be 1892. Initially, the drink was only sold in pharmacies and had to be mixed with a litre of wine according to instructions. The artificial name B.Y.R.R.H. was given by the brothers according to a code system used in the fabric industry, which initially led to the drink being confused with beer in Anglo-Saxon countries. The bittersweet, light red aperitif has been produced for over 100 years according to the same recipe from red wine mainly of the Carignan Noir (Mazuelo) variety and flavoured with tonic water and essences of cinnamon, cinchona bark, bitter orange peel, gentian, camomile, kalumba, coffee and cocoa. Then it is matured in oak barrels for up to three years.
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Dr. Christa Hanten
Fachjournalistin, Lektorin und Verkosterin, Wien