Drink Shoot

Champagne Tastes

"But I don't like Champagne."
     "You'll like this."
"No I won't."
     "Yes you will."

I tried it. I liked it.

The beverage in question was Barefoot Bubbly, a Champagne from California.

What?!?! Champagne doesn't come from California - it comes from France, doesn't it?

I know very little about Champagne - so I had a chat with Jennifer Wall, the wine maker from Barefoot Cellars, producers of Barefoot Bubbly.

Jennifer Wall: I’ve been the Barefoot Cellars wine maker since 1995. When I started we were making about 140,000 cases of wine per year. This year we’ll sell about 2.5 million cases, so we’ve grown substantially in the past 11 years.

We started making the sparkling wine in 1998, specifically with the millennium celebration in mind. I don’t know if you recall, but there was a lot of hype about not having enough champagne and sparkling wine to meet demand. We thought, ‘what a great opportunity for us to put a sparkler in the bottle.’ It gave us a year to get it out to our distributors and then another 6 months for a big push. We did that and we were fairly successful; we sold 15,000 cases that first year – which was a big deal for us at that time. And then three years later, we started another sparkler – we actually have two different sparkling wines available – they are both Barefoot Bubbly Chardonnay Champagne – one is Brut and one is Extra Dry. The Extra Dry was the original release – and it is a little bit sweeter than the Brut. The verbiage is a little bit counter-intuitive which is sometimes misleading to the customer.

That’s a brief synopsis of my history and the Barefoot Bubbly history. We are going into the holiday season expecting to sell a couple of hundred thousand cases – which is super exciting for us – and we’re thrilled to be talking to you about it.

Holiday Recipes Week (Day 4)

Sparkling wine cocktails????

Come on - chicks dig cocktails too, right? Besides with NYE coming up, you can look all suave and mixologist-like. Any knucklehead can pop open a bottle of champagne, but the bartender always gets the attention.

These recipes come from Ballatore.

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As the family arrives to gather around the table, treat the grown-ups to a seasonal cocktail that combines some of fall's most cherished flavors. The Spiced Pear Tart-Tini is an unexpected treat, made by mixing fresh pear nectar, pear liqueur and brandy, and topping it off with Ballatore Gran Spumante. Served in a cinnamon-sugar rimmed martini glass and trimmed with a pear wedge, guests will be impressed with the extra care taken in making this crisp and aromatic drink.

Spiced Pear Tart-Tini

• 1 1/4 oz pear liqueur
• Splash brandy
• 1 oz pear nectar
• Splash lemon juice
• 1 oz Ballatore Gran Spumante (Sparkling Wine)
• 1 Bosc pear
• 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp white sugar

To prep the martini glass, mix together the cinnamon and sugar in a plate, rub a lemon wedge around the rim of the glass and then dip it in the cinnamon-sugar mix until well coated. Set glass aside. Then, thinly slice the pear and place the slice in the rimmed martini glass. In a mixing glass, combine the pear liqueur, pear nectar, brandy, and lemon juice with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into the prepped martini glass. Top off with Ballatore  Gran Spumante and serve.

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Sparkling Mocha Truffle

• 3/4 oz chocolate liqueur
• 3/4 oz vanilla liqueur
• Splash hazelnut liqueur
• 1 oz Ballatore Rosso Spumante
• 4 tbsp chocolate shavings
• Chocolate sauce

Place the chocolate shavings on a plate and wet the rim of a mini martini glass with chocolate sauce.  Dip the glass into the chocolate shavings several times to ensure coverage.  Then, for an added touch, drizzle chocolate sauce inside the glass.  Place glass in freezer until drink is prepared.  In a mixing glass, combine the chocolate liqueur, vanilla liqueur and hazelnut liqueur with ice.  Shake vigorously and strain into the prepared glass, filling only half way.  Top off with Ballatore Rosso Spumante and serve.

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Poinsettia

• 4 oz cranberry juice
• 4 oz Ballatore Rosso Spumante
• 1/2 oz orange liqueur
• Mint leaf

In a chilled champagne flute, add the cranberry juice and Ballatore Rosso Spumante.
Top off with orange liqueur and garnish with a mint leaf for a festive touch.