Ottawa, ON

December 19, 2022

Today on CTV Morning Live, Sommelier Matt Steeves showed a couple of his favourite, super tasty and easy to make, Holiday Cocktails that are sure to impress your guests. Check out the video here.

Sparkling Wine Cocktails are super versatile, easy to craft, and come across as extra fancy and elegant. The give an allure of prestige and sophistication which perfectly complements the holiday season and those special gatherings with friends, family, and colleagues.

Most Sparkling Wine Cocktails have only a couple basic ingredients, making them easy to serve in numbers without much effort. They’re a super convenient and festive way to treat your guests to a fancy holiday drink.

Here are Matt’s Sommelier-recommended Holiday Cocktails.

Starting off with the Classic Champagne Cocktail…

Ingredients

  • 1-3 drops bitters
  • 1 sugar cube
  • 5 ounces chilled Champagne or traditional method sparking wine such as: Raventos Blanc de Blancs (29th on the list of Top 100 wines of the year in 2022) via www.cruwinemerchants.com
  • (to up the octane, add 1 ounce of Cognac)

Directions

  1. Drop bitters onto sugar cube; let soak in. Place sugar cube in a Champagne flute. Add Cognac (if desired), and fill with Champagne/sparkling wine of your choice.

Select Spritz – the festive Venetian Spritz sparkling cocktail that everyone will be talking about!

Mixing and enjoying the effervescent, sessionable Venetian Select Spritz is as easy as 1-2-3.

Voila, the ever refreshing and festive holiday Spritz!

Ingredients

  • 3 ounces sparking wine
  • 2 ounces Select Aperitivo
  • 1 ounce club soda

Directions

  1. Add ice to an elegant stemmed wine glass, pour 3 ounces of sparking wine (I’m choosing 13th Street Cuvée Rosé Brut which is conveniently on sale at LCBO for $26.95 ) with two ounces of Select Aperitivo and a dash of soda water, garnish with an olive and a sprig of rosemary (optional, but special for an extra festive look).

The iconic Select Spritz may transport you back to Venice, Italy, where its renowned ingredient, Select Aperitivo, was founded over 100 years ago. I guarantee this will be a hit when served over the holidays as it’s got everything you want in a well balanced, delicious, and highly attractive cocktail. Treat your guests to this Venetian Spritz and see for yourself. With the easy to remember 3,2,1 recipe you won’t have any problem mixing and serving this festive cocktail over the holidays. Here’s a short video on this iconic cocktail.

Wishing you and yours all the best this holiday season!

Matt Steeves – Sommelier, Wine Writer, & Former Director with the National Capital Sommelier Guild – follow Matt on Instagram @Quercusvino or www.topwines.ca

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