As every host or hostess knows, there can be a lot of stressful details involved in planning a party. Marvelous, festive holiday cocktails shouldn’t be one of them: Using champagne or sparkling wine in mixed drinks or punch doesn’t require the skill level of an expert. Plenty of quick tips and easy recipes for wine cocktails are available to make the holidays a lot merrier while keeping the party-giver a lot more relaxed.
Cocktail Recipes for Dry Sparkling Wine or Brut Champagne
Many people like effervescent wine on the dry side; adding fruit juice or purée, sugar syrup or grenadine, or even a hibiscus-in-syrup or two to brut champagne or dry sparkling wine will definitely appeal to those with a sweeter tooth. These recipes also make wine stretch farther and add an alluring flavor to more inexpensive varieties of bubbly.
The two most traditional champagne cocktails are probably the Bellini and the Mimosa. To make a Bellini, place one tablespoon of peach purée in a champagne flute, and then fill with Champagne or sparkling wine. To make a Mimosa, fill the flute ¾ with champagne or sparkling wine and then add orange juice. A dash of orange liqueur is sometimes added to a Mimosa as well.
Another extremely simple champagne cocktail requires ½ teaspoon of sugar (or a single sugar cube) and 2 dashes of Angostura Bitters in a flute; fill with sparkling wine of choice.
Adding a dash to 1 ounce of raspberry, peach, blackcurrant, or melon liqueur to champagne or sparkling wine is another way to perk up holiday spirits without taking too much time or effort. Many different puréed fruits also work well; if using pear or melon purée, note that these fruits turn brown fairly quickly; and should not be prepared until right before party time. Some people enjoy ginger liqueur and lemon juice in a champagne cocktail, but this is perhaps an acquired taste.
Wild edible hibiscus flowers in sugar syrup are commercially available, and definitely make an interesting and attractive additive to a flute of champagne. Drop one flower into glass, and add a dash of syrup; then fill with sparkling wine. The drink will take on a beautiful rosé hue as well as a delectable sweetness.
Two Simple Champagne Punch Recipes
These two punch recipes serve approximately 20 partygoers.
The first is sometimes called a “Chandon Cocktail” after the famous French label Möet & Chandon (the company’s Brut Impérial Champagne tastes great in this one): Mix 6 ounces of orange juice concentrate and 6 ounces of limeade concentrate; slowly stir in two 12-ounce cans of club soda and two 12-ounce cans of ginger ale. Add the brut champagne (or any dry sparkling wine you enjoy). Serve in punch cups over crushed ice.
A “White Sangria” punch involves pouring a liter (4 cups) of grapefruit juice into a punch bowl; slowly add 2 bottles of dry sparkling wine or brut champagne (Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label tastes particularly nice in this recipe), and stir gently. Serve over crushed ice in punch cups or old-fashioned glasses. Top each glass with a strawberry and a bit of soda for a cheery holiday drink. If desired, any dry still wine like Chardonnay or Savignon Blanc may be used in this recipe instead of bubbly.
Have plenty of fun, but always remember to drink responsibly.
Readers of this article may also enjoy “Foods that Go With Sparkling Wine and Champagne” and "How to Open Champagne and Serve It Properly: A Beginner's Guide" in Suite 101's Food & Drink section.
Sources
- Cunningham, Stephen Kittredge, The Bartender’s Black Book, Updated 9th ed., Brockton, MA: The Bartender’s Black Book Company, 2010.
- Fuhrman, Janice, Wine Genius, London: MQP, 2004.
Recipes taken from Fuhrman, pp. 212, 220 (White Sangria adapted from a still wine recipe); and Cunningham, pp. 45, 61, 116.
Amy Sillup - I have a B.S. in Chemistry from Delaware Valley College and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania. I have worked as a ...
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