Midday Fix: Great Alternatives to Champagne for your New Year’s Celebration

Cindy Lowe Rynning, founder Grape Experiences

Recipes:

Starting with Zardetto - $18.99- an amazing Prosecco

This is a great choice for the New Year celebrations because it’s basically made for social occasions. It’s a perfect wine to start the evening or all night long. This is bright, bubbly, and refreshing, with beautiful, fruity aromatics, and perfect for entertaining. Prosecco is a classic wine to drink before sitting down to dinner because it’s known to whet the appetite. It can also be mixed into cocktails – brunch cocktails such as mimosas, or a classic Italian aperitif, like a Spritz or a Bellini.

Cocktail using Zardetto is:

Negroni Sbagliato (or just Sbagliato)

Sbagliato means incorrect or mistaken, as this drink subs prosecco in for the gin. Said to be discovered by a busy bartender mistakenly using sparkling wine instead of gin! A fortunate and happy error.

1 ounce sweet vermouth
1 ounce Nardini bitters (or red bitter like Campari)

Top off with Zardetto Prosecco

Over ice

Garnish: orange peel

Another sparkling: Francois Montand Brut Blanc de Blancs NV (from France), SRP: $15

This is a great choice for the New Year celebrations because it’s a great tasting sparkling wine that also happens to be an incredible value. It’s made using the “Méthode Traditionelle” – the same labor-intensive, high quality process that is used to make Champagne (it gets its bubbles from a second fermentation in bottle, which adds richness and complexity). With an elegant, classic French label, François Montand introduces more people to this winemaking style, showing wine lovers everywhere that a well-made, high quality sparkling wine can be accessible. Their grapes come from vineyards throughout France, from the Gascony region in southwest France to the Jura mountains.

Cocktail using Francois:

French 75

1oz gin
1/2oz fresh lemon juice
1/2oz simple syrup
François Montand Brut

Shake and strain into chilled champagne flute, Top with François Montand Brut Garnish with lemon twist and cherry.

Another sparkling: Martini & Rossi Asti DOCG SRP: $11.99

Cocktail- Sgroppino Float:

Swap option: Turn these cocktails into alcohol-free mocktails by omitting the vodka and swapping the sparkling wine for ginger ale.

Ingredients

- 4 champagne glasses
- 1 ounce raspberry syrup
- 4 scoops lemon sorbet
- 12 ounces sparkling wine, such as Prosecco, Asti Spumante or Champagne
- 4 ounces vodka

Preparation