🍷 Quinquina
Wine with bitter cinchona bark and herbs, drunk before a meal.
Quinquina is a French aromatised wine. A base wine is flavoured with cinchona bark and herbs. The bark gives it a typical bitter note. Quinquina is served before a meal as an aperitif, usually chilled or over ice.
The name comes from the cinchona bark. It was brought to Europe from South America and was known there as a medicinal ingredient. The same bitterness was then used to make a drink that stimulates the appetite. Quinquina comes from France, though similar bittersweet wines exist in other countries.
Recipes differ between producers: some use white wine, some red, and some add citrus peel. The strength is usually higher than that of table wine, because spirit is part of the recipe.
Quinquina is close to vermouth, americano and other bitter or aromatised wines. All of them are aromatised wines, and European Union rules set out what may be added. Like any alcohol, quinquina is for adults and in small amounts.
How it connects to Wine
🍷 Quinquina ← similar ← 🍷 Aromatised wine → kind of → 🍷 Types of wine → kind of → 🍷 Wine
Links
- Part of
- 🍷 Aromatised wine
- Where it is made
- 🗺️ French wine
- Similar and different
- 🍷 Aromatised wine, 🍷 Vermouth, 🍷 Americano (aromatised wine), 🍷 Bitter aromatised wine
Frequently asked questions
What is quinquina?
A French wine flavoured with cinchona bark and herbs, served as a lightly bitter aperitif.
How is quinquina different from vermouth?
Vermouth is flavoured with wormwood and other herbs, while quinquina is defined by cinchona. Both are aromatised wines.
How do you drink quinquina?
Usually chilled or over ice before a meal, in a small serving.
What to read next
- 🗺️ French wine — The country's wine and winemaking: regions, grapes and appellations.
- 🍷 Americano (aromatised wine) — Italian bittersweet wine flavoured with wormwood and gentian.
- 🍷 Bitter aromatised wine — A type of EU aromatised wine with a clear herbal bitterness.
Similar
🍷 Americano (aromatised wine) · 🍷 Vermouth · 🍷 Bitter aromatised wine · 🍷 Sangria · 🍷 Mulled wine · 🍷 Bianco vermouth
⚠️ Wine contains alcohol: adults only, drink in moderation. Wine usually contains sulphites; egg white or milk proteins are sometimes used for fining — important for allergies and for vegans.