Briottet's know-how with Creme de cassis

Artisanal Production

Handcrafted Made In France.

Briottet has been working with the same producers from the Socofruit cooperative in Beaune for over thirty years. All our blackcurrants are harvested in Burgundy. We only work with the best variety of blackcurrant, ‘Noir de Bourgogne’, which has unrivalled aromatic and taste qualities.

Take a behind-the-scenes look at the Noir de Bourgogne blackcurrant harvest, just a few kilometres from Dijon in Burgundy.

A Living Heritage Company in the heart of Dijon

Since the end of the 19th century, we have been making Crème de Cassis de Dijon using traditional methods. We still work in our production facility located in the city center of Dijon, Burgundy.

Since 2018, Maison Briottet has been awarded the “Living Heritage Company” (Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant) label. This is a mark of recognition from the French State, created to distinguish French companies with exceptional artisanal know-how. This label brings together manufacturers committed to the highest standards of craftsmanship and product excellence. Only a select few companies (1,061 in 2023) hold this prestigious label.

Granted for a period of 5 years, Maison Briottet applied for its renewal. The company once again demonstrated its rare expertise and was awarded the label by the Prefect of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in January 2024.

Here are the 6 steps in making a liqueur.

Step 1

Fruit

Careful selection of the best blackcurrant berries is essential. A large quantity of good fruit goes a long way to ensuring the quality of the liqueur.

Step 2

Maceration

The berries are macerated for around 2 months in neutral French over-fine alcohol and water. Maceration is generally the most widely used technique for making liqueurs.

Step 3

Racking

The first juice, also known as ‘virgin juice’, is then taken from the vat. The fruit is pressed to obtain the second juice: the press juice. This is filtered to remove impurities. We then blend the juices to obtain the ‘blackcurrant infusion’.

Step 4

Addition of sugar

To finalise the liqueur, we add French white granulated sugar to the infusion. It takes several hours for the sugar to dissolve in the infusion. Tadaammmm! The liqueur is now ready for tasting!

Step 5

Bottling

The resulting liqueur is quickly bottled. And yes, ageing liqueurs is strongly discouraged! We then bottle the large formats on our bottling line. Smaller sizes are generally bottled by hand, as in the old days.

Step 6

Labelling

Like bottling, labelling is done by machine for large formats. For other containers, we often do the labelling by hand and to order. Some bottle models are also waxed by hand.

The team

At Briottet, this might surprise many, but we are a team of only 8 people! Pretty efficient, right?!

We are still based in our historic premises in the center of Dijon, and we carry out all of our production on-site! We do not have any secondary locations.

To produce our liqueurs, we have a cellar master. He produces every day and oversees the fruit macerations.

For bottling large formats, we have a duo working on the bottling line.

Meanwhile, another person handles the small formats, mostly by hand.

To complete the production team, we have someone we affectionately call our “Swiss Army knife.” In other words, this person helps everyone out according to the needs of the moment.

On the administrative side, we have an assistant who takes care of orders and logistics.

Finally, the managers share the other roles. Vincent Briottet oversees production and quality, while Claire Briottet manages sales, administration/accounting, communication, and human resources.

In short, a small company with a versatile and responsive team, dedicated to serving its clients as best as possible!