Spring Sips: Set Up a Sparkling Wine Cocktail Bar

Courtesy of H. Camille Smith
Photography by Sarah Busby; Styling by H. Camille Smith

Hi Friends,

Raise a glass to winter's end with one of these sparkling wine cocktails that pair your favorite bubbly — Champagne, Cava or Prosecco — with sweet, fruity flavors for an irresistible spring sip your guests can mix up themselves.

Toast to Spring


Seriously, what's not to like about pairing your favorite sparkling wine with fresh fruit juices or liqueurs for a sparkling spring sip?! After all, this winter was a tough one; let's raise a glass to the return of warm weather, bird song and Mother Nature's flower-filled spring show!

Get Ready to Chill


Use a large, ice-filled beverage tub or porcelain bowl to chill sparkling wine to the perfect temp. Want to speed up your chill time? Put science to work and add water (an excellent conductor) and a handful of kosher salt (which lowers the water's freezing point) to the mix to rapidly bring your bottles to the ideal temp, which for sparkling wine is around 50 degrees Farenheit.

Let Them Help Themselves


Our easy set-up ensures guests can belly up to the bar and follow along with the chalked-up recipes to mix a spring sip that perfectly suits their taste.

Bring On the Mixers


After all, what's a cocktail without a mixer? The answer: still sparkling wine (and still delish!) but these sweet add-ins will take your spring sip to the next level. You'll need Creme de Cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) for the Kir Royale, peach nectar (look in your grocery store's Hispanic or international section) for the Bellini and good ole' oj (fresh-squeezed or storebought) for the Mimosas.

Don't Forget Garnishes


This is a celebration after all and garnishes add both a pretty and practical fininshing touch. For ours, we skewered fresh blackberries and raspberries and sliced naval orange slices into quarters.

Spell It Out


For our spring bar, we chose the 3 most popular sparkling wine cocktails: Mimosa, Bellini and Kir Royale. To ensure guests could play mixologist, we created a chalkboard sign that spelled out the ingredients — precise proportions aren't necessary, let each guest mix to suit their taste.

Stash Necessities Below


Short on space? Use a colorful tray to stash empty glasses, napkins and additional mixers or garnishes below.

Toast the Season


We used fluted glasses for our cocktails but they'd be just as delish sipped from less common sparkling wine glass styles — the coupe (a champagne glass with a short, shallow bowl) or the tulip (a champagne glass shaped like the flower) — or even stemmed or stemless red or white wine glasses.

Garnishes: Fresh Is Best


Not just for looks, garnishes add a little extra boost of flavor to your cocktails. To ensure they look and taste their best, prep them the day of your party, then cover and refrigerate till right before guests arrive.

Serving Pieces: Use What You Have


Mismatched is having its moment so don't worry if you don't have a collection of matching serving pieces. For ours, an old transferware gravy boat is just the right shape to store skewered garnishes while a silverplate salt cellar holds orange slices.

Cheers!

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Live well,
Yvonne