San Raphael cocktail recipe?

I was reading James Salter's novel "Light Years", and he kept referring to a cocktail called a "San Raphael" - is it based on Saint Raphael? I saw a few references to this on French mixology sites, but as an ingredient in other cocktails. Is Saint Raphael a wine-based aperitif? Thanks for any information or recipes.

[JMF]

From the 1949 Esquire Drink Book, a recipe for the ST. Raphael:

1 Half-pony Gin, 2 ponies St. Raphael Apertif, 1 pony OJ, fill w/ seltzer.

http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/san-raphael

http://www.straphael.fr/gb/the-produc...

[ahmiller]

Excellent! Thanks so much for your helpful replies. I'll set to mixing one if I can!

[t_g]

i talked to james salter at a reading he did & he confirmed that the st raphael mentioned in the book is the fortified wine rather than the cocktail

[EvergreenDan]

St. Raphael is an affordable wine-based aperitif similar to Dubonnet Rouge. It is made in France and fortified to 16%ABV. It can be used in cocktails where one might use sweet vermouth, Dubonnet, or another sweet, spicy aromatized / fortified wine. I had it in Montreal; I don't think it is available in the US. It was quite widely available in bars and in the one store I looked in.

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[ahmiller]

I just got to page 63 of Light Years and, curious, decided to google "San Raphael" cocktail and this Chow entry was the first thing that came up on the google list.