The festive season calls for champagne. Champagne cocktails, that is
It’s time to celebrate. So, let’s pop the cork on the champagne. But wait! Why not add a bit of holiday glitter to your sparkler by preparing champagne cocktails?
And when I say champagne cocktails, I mean cocktails made with brut champagne or very high quality sparkling wine that has been made from the typical champagne grapes of chardonnay and pinot noir, and using the champagne method where a second fermentation takes place in the bottle. Then again, the French have colonised most of the world’s best wine-producing regions, so there are many well-made and elegant sparkling wines to choose from even if you wish to avoid champers.
Using the very best ingredients is not enough when it comes to making the perfect cocktail. The ingredients, equipment and even the glass it is to be served in must be well chilled. This ensures that the perlage, as aficionados call the steady stream of bubbles in a sparkling wine, will continue for a longer period of time.
Do not under any circumstances substitute simple, blandly fruity, inexpensive prosecco for yeasty, crisp, exclusive champagne. The flavour of the cocktails will obviously be altered beyond recognition. If you are dying for prosecco, remember it has its own famous and historic mixed drink, the Bellini.
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