As a general rule wars don't have a good effect on vineyards and the wartime wines are rarely great. Armies marching through your village pillaging anything they can find don't help much, nor do national governments intent on enlisting any able-bodied man they can find. In wartime vineyards tend to get neglected or even completely ignored, so any wine that gets wine will be scarce and probably not very good.

There are notable exceptions to this: perhaps one of the last century's greatest vintage in the Bordeaux was the 1945, which was grown and vinified at the tail end of six years of wartime struggle. It was a testament to the determination of the Bordelaise that nothing, not even a full-blown global war, was going to stop them doing what they did best. That same sort of gritty determination kept Gaston Hochar making wines while the Lebanon was in an almost permanent state of war. His Chateau Musar is one of the great wines of the world, maybe because of the adversity he faced in making it.

Most of the time, however, wines in wartime are poor; thin shades of their peacetime selves. But because of this, we have today one our more pleasant summertime drinks - the kir. Kir, as you may well know, is made by adding a dash of Crème de Cassis - a blackcurrant liqueur - to a glass of white wine. The drink gets it name from the leader of the French resistance in Lyons during the Second World War, Canon Felix Kir.

What the good Canon Kir discovered was that the very nasty white wine that he was forced to drink during those wartime years could be made drinkable by the addition of a dash of Cassis. Since then the drink has become popular all over the world and in France it's commonly made with a light white Burgundy. Kir Royale, that stalwart of many a wedding breakfast made by adding Cassis to a glass of champagne, grew out of the original recipe.

But if you want to be true to Kir's roots, then you don't need an expensive white wine to make it. It would be a waste if you did, since whatever taste the wine has will be completely overtaken by the taste of the Cassis. If you want to drink this summertime drink, make it with an inexpensive white wine that isn't highly flavoured, and you'll taste what the good Canon did all those years ago.

Liqueur of the Week

Crème de Cassis, Bols

A bottle of Cassis will go a very long way if, like me, you like your Kir to be a pale rose colour. You really don't need very much in the bottom of the glass to get that pale pink colour. If you want to be traditional use a simple white Burgundy like a Bourgogne Aligote, or failing that, a cheap and cheerful Chardonnay as long as it isn't oaked. Should you want to be more extravagant and make a Kir Royale, stick to a inexpensive champagne. And don't forget to raise your glass to Canon Felix for inventing this summery drink.

Available O'Brien's Off Licenses, RRP €17