When we think of New Year’s, we think of bubbly! A festive way to ring in the New Year with family and friends is to set up a self-serve sparkling wine bar at home. Let your guests have fun creating their own sparkling cocktails! Your guests can choose a simple Kir Royale, or play mixologist as they combine flavors to create a multi-layered concoction. We’ve even made a free printable sign for you to download and place at the bar for the party!
FREE PRINTABLE BUBBY BAR SIGN >
Click the link above to download and print this Bubbly Bar sign!
After you’ve printed it, simple cut out the sign, fold in half, and place at the bar.
THE BUBBLY BAR SHOPPING LIST >
Click the link above to download and print the list of everything you’ll need. Stop by Bottles for all of these ingredients!
- Ice Bucket
- Jar of spoons (Pouring the mixers straight into your glass will cause the mixer and sparkling wine to combine too quickly. The best way to create a sparkling cocktail is to turn a spoon upside down and let the liquid slowly run over the spoon into your glass. SCIENCE!)
- Champagne Flutes (check to make sure you have enough for all your guests!)
- Grandial – Light and bright, this Blanc de Blancs Brut is made from 100% Chardonnay that gives this sparkling treat a lovely note of green apple on the finish. $9.99
- Mercat Cava – Wonderfully balanced and complex Cava from Catalonia, Spain. Notes of lemon and peach meet with an undertone of minerals to create a spectacularly dry sparkling. $16.99
- Gruet Brut – Sparkling wine from New Mexico? No way! Thank goodness French winemaker, Gilbert Gruet, travelled through New Mexico in the 1980’s and found European winemakers planting grapes in this inexpensive location. He promptly moved his sparkling wine operation from Bethon, France to Albuquerque, New Mexico! $19.99
- Meinklang Rosé Frizzante – Bio-dynamic, organic and absolutely fun, this Pinot Noir sparkling style has less effervesce than others on this list but makes up for it in the most splendid strawberry notes. $21.99
- Mumm Napa – French Champagne house G.H. Mumm found a new home in Napa Valley in the early 1980’s. Notes of melon and vanilla are abundant in this rich and balanced California sparkling. Classic Californian sparkling, bright. $29.99
- Charles Heidsick Brut Reserve – From the house nicknamed ‘Baby Krug’ comes the most spectacular champagne I have had in recent memory. Delicate hints of nectarine and peach first come into play followed by a creamy, honeyed finish. Complex and rich, this is a non-vintage champagne that drinks like a vintage bottle twice the price. A fantastic way to ring in the New Year! $69.99
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| Meinklang Rosé Frizzante |
Quince & Apple Rhubarb Hops Syrup – $11.99
Quince & Apple Tart Cherry Grenadine – $11.99
Quince & Apple syrups are all natural, hand crafted syrups from Madison, Wisconsin. Quince & Apple syrups rely on the best local produce to create a smooth, not too sugary syrup that can be combined with sparkling wine, liquor or club soda to provide a refreshing, non-alcoholic drink.
Let’s talk Champagne!
Champagne is a region in France, home to some of the best Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes in the world that create delicate, complex and heart stopping wines. Buying Champagne to stock a bubbly bar can get pricey fairly quickly, but there are plenty of other sparkling wines made outside of Champagne that will impress your guests with their grace and balance. Featuring sparkling wines made from different countries and different regions is a great way to have an educational moment in the midst of good, old-fashioned bacchanal.
However, as the clock is about to reach midnight, I pull a few bottles of Champagne from the back of the vegetable crisper, underneath the Swiss Chard and grapes (don’t tell my friends about my hiding spot) and pop the piece de resistance as the clock strikes midnight!
Happy New Year!
– Joanna
Bottles Fine Wine