Spring is a busy time year when it comes to celebrating weddings, bridal showers, graduations and alike.  In the world of cocktails, celebration usually means champagne.  The luxurious sparkling wine is certainly wonderful on its own but it also works very well as an ingredient in a great selection of cocktail recipes.

A Little History
True champagne comes only from France’s northernmost wine-growing area, the Champagne region, just 90 miles northeast of Paris.  Champagne’s cool weather creates a difficult growing environment for grapes.  Grapes that don’t fully ripen tend to have a higher acidity and less developed flavors, which just happens to be the perfect formula for sparkling wines.

Vintage champagnes are made from the best grapes of the harvest in years when the grapes are better than average.  Wines from the declared year must comprise at least 80% of the blend for vintage champagnes and must be aged for 3 years before their release.  Non-vintage champagnes make up 75 to 80% of those produced and are blends of 2 or more years.  They’re usually made in a definitive house style, which is maintained by meticulous blending.

How sweet a champagne will be is determined by a sugar-wine mixture added just before corking.  You can find the level of sweetness on the label:  brut (bone dry to almost dry) has less than 1.5% sugar;  extra sec or extra dry is slightly sweeter with 1.2 – 2% sugar; sec is medium sweet with 1.7 – 3.5% sugar; demi-sec is sweet at 3.3 – 5% sugar and doux is very sweet with over 5% sugar.  Both demi-sec and doux are considered dessert wines.

Producers outside of the Champagne region and abroad bow to French tradition by not using the word champagne on their labels.  Most top-quality producers in the U.S. simply use the term sparkling wine.

Don’t Forget the Glass
If you’re going to take the time to create a great cocktail, do it justice by serving it in the appropriate glass.  The long, elegant tapered body of the Flute glass is ideal for serving champagne cocktails.  Flutes have a very small surface from which bubbles can escape, allowing champagne to "fizz" longer.  It is best to chill flutes beforehand by either placing them in the freezer or filling them with crushed ice and water.

Here are some recommendations for your next celebration - a brut (dry) champagne is recommended for most champagne cocktails

Blackberry Fizz

Pour 1 measure of blackberry liqueur into a flute glass and top with chilled champagne.  Garnish with a fresh, plump blackberry.

Champoo

Pour ¼ measure each of Triple Sec and Amaretto into a flute glass with a dash of lemon juice then top with chilled champagne.  Garnish with a twist orange zest.

Ritz Fizz

Pour a ½ measure each of Amaretto, Blue Curacao and lime juice into a flute glass and top with chilled champagne.  Garnish with a lemon twist.

Simple Bellini

• 2 or 3 ripe peaches, puréed
• 1 teaspoon raspberry puree or Grenadine
• 1 bottle of chilled sparkling wine

Place ripe peaches in a small blender and puree until totally smooth (this can be done well in advance and kept in the fridge).  Spoon one and half teaspoons into a chilled flute glass, along with 2 or 3 drops of the raspberry puree and slowly top with the chilled sparkling wine, stirring as you pour.  The raspberry purée adds a nice blush to this drink.