It’s time for popping corks.
Champagne toasts are as synonymous with New Year’s Eve as balloon drops and confetti. It’s the go-to drink for special occasions. When those special moments arrive, you’ll want to make sure you know how to open and serve this beverage.
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There is a difference between champagne and sparkling wines, although both have plenty of cork-popping fizz.Hostess tips
› Make sure there is plenty of food to go along with the alcohol.› Make a playlist of some of 2015’s best songs for the party’s music.› Make sure everyone has a glass of champagne or sparkling wine for the New Year’s toast.› The hostess should initiate the New Year’s countdown. Don’t be shy.› Never let guests leave drunk to drive home. Either put them up in a guest room, have air mattresses on hand to sleep it off overnight or call a cab or Uber.› Call a cab now. Many taxi services take reservations for times to pick up party guests on New Year’s Eve. Not only does this end the party when the hostess is ready, it keeps intoxicated drivers off the road.
Often the terms “champagne” and “sparkling wine” are used interchangeably, but there is a difference. All champagne is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wines are champagne. The distinction is where it was made.
True champagne only is made in the Champagne region of France, using any of seven specific grapes in its creation and meeting a lengthy criteria, explains Food & Wine magazine. Sparkling wines might be made with the exact same grapes but, if not made in Champagne, then the drink is sparkling wine.
When it comes to New Year’s Eve parties, whether you go with champagne or sparkling wine, Alison Matera at Riverside Wine & Spirits on Manufacturer’s Road shared this formula on how to figure the amount of beverages you’ll need for a party of 12 guests.
“Sparkling wine has six full glasses per bottle. For 12 people, at a party from about 9 p.m. to midnight, you’d be safe with four to six bottles,” she says.
She adds, though, that you also must consider the friends on the invite list; you know best how many of them are heavy imbibers.
Matera also has sparkling wine suggestions to fit low- or high-end party budgets.
“In the low-price range, there is a sparkling wine from France, Mont Martre Brut, that is $11.99 a bottle. It’s a very clean, crisp sparkling wine from the south of France,” she says.
“On the high end, I like Paul Bara Grand Rose. It’s $68.99 a bottle. It’s a small-production champagne, 100 percent grown grand cru juice. They don’t make a lot of it and, when production is lower, you tend to have better quality wines.
“If you compare it to some of the other champagnes in that price range that are a little more recognizable and mass-produced, this is five times the wine for the same money,” says the expert.
Bottle opening
Count on Martha Stewart to have precise instructions for opening sparkling wines because she knows “good things.” Following is her step-by-step how-to.
* Chill your champagne to 45 degrees, which takes about three hours in the refrigerator or 30 minutes in an ice bucket.
* Cut the foil and remove. Wrap a towel around the bottle, which will help keep the cork from flying away and also will catch any champagne that might spill.
* Hold the neck of the bottle while securing the top of the cork with your thumb. Twist off the wire cage around the cork; it takes about six turns to undo it.
* Remove the cage while still holding the cork. Hold the bottle at a 45-degree angle and, with the cork in one hand and the bottom of the bottle in the other, turn the bottle – not the cork – slowly. Release the cork gently and pour.
Classic Champagne Cocktail
3 drops bitters
1 sugar cube
1 ounce cognac
4 ounces chilled champagne
Drop bitters onto sugar cube; let soak in.
Place sugar cube in a champagne flute. Add cognac and top; with champagne.
– Martha Stewart
Sparkling Wine With A Twist
1 750-milliliter bottle sparkling wine, chilled
8 3-inch strips of lemon zest
Fill eight chilled flutes with sparkling wine. Twist the lemon zest strips and drop one into each glass.
– Food & Wine
SET UP A BUBBLY BAR
Champagne gets an even better taste when mixed with other flavors and liquors. Pear and cranberry, especially, are classic winter flavors that combine well with champagne. So why not set up a bubbly bar as a conversation starter?
A bubbly bar is a self-serve champagne/sparkling wine set-up that lets your guests become mixologists and get creative making their drinks. If you aren’t sure what a bubbly bar looks like, just check Pinterest.
Nicole Adams at ABC Liquors on Brainerd Road suggests including “orange juice and pineapple juice to make mimosas” as well as putting out fresh strawberries.
Cranberry juice, pear nectar, orange bitters, fresh cranberries and other fresh fruits are good additions to a bubbly bar. Quince and apple syrups are not too sugary, making them refreshing in a nonalcoholic drink.
As far as food, Riverside Wine & Spirits’ Matera says sparkling wines are extremely versatile and will pair with just about anything.
“You can put just about any kind of cheese with sparkling wine; it has the verve to stand up to most cheeses. Obviously caviar is the top pairing with champagne. Smoked salmon, appetizers are good choices – sparkling wines love appetizers,” she says.
Just remember to pair champagne with foods that have like body, texture and intensity, she advises. “You wouldn’t serve it with a big steak with sauce all over it.”
Make sure to keep the bubbly bar stocked with plenty of champagne flutes, cocktail napkins, full ice buckets, stirrers and spoons for pouring mixes into flutes. Mixers should not be poured directly into a flute, but into a spoon, then into the glass.
Most important: Make sure the bubbly bar and food buffet are placed a fair distance from each other to keep lines moving.
Pear Cranberry Champagne
2 cups pear nectar
2 cups cranberry juice cocktail
Orange bitters
Champagne or dry sparkling white wine
12 rosemary sprigs
Fresh cranberries
Mix 2 parts sparkling wine/champagne to 1 part each pear nectar and cranberry juice. Add a dash of orange bitters (optional). Garnish with a sprig of rosemary and fresh cranberries.
CHAMPAGNE FOR BREAKFAST
If you plan to serve your guests breakfast in the wee hours of New Year’s Day before they leave your house, or if guests are spending the night and staying for brunch, here’s an egg recipe suggested on Cuisinart.com that pairs with champagne/sparkling wine.
Champagne Breakfast Eggs
1/2 cup butter
18 eggs
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 cup sour cream
1 cup milk
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Melt butter is a 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking dish.
Beat eggs with salt, pepper, sour cream and milk until well-blended. Add chopped green onions and pour into baking dish with melted butter.
Bake for 35 minutes or until eggs are set. The eggs will rise quite high in the dish and may brown slightly on edges.
Serves 9.
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.