Anyone can open a bottle of bubbly, but you can show off this New Year’s Eve with these easy, yet super impressive, sparkling wine cocktails.

The key to a great New Year’s Eve bash is the sparkling wine. While we colloquially refer to all bubbly as champagne, the truth of the matter is most of us are not drinking true champagne.

A few definitions

• Champagne – refers to sparkling wine grown, fermented, and bottled in Champagne, France. If you are drinking anything else, it’s best to call it a sparkling wine to be technically correct.
• Prosecco – Prosecco used to be called the poor man’s Champagne; it’s actually a sparkling wine from Italy.
• Cava – Cava is delicious sparkling wine from Spain.

While you will find other sparkling wines in any good liquor store, these are the three main region specific sparkling wines. Everything else in the package store will be called sparkling wine. Just as if you were drinking it on its own, it does matter what kind of sparkling wine you use for cocktails. The best bet is to go to a good wine store and tell the staff what your plans are. They will be able to tell you what will taste best in your price range.

Now that you understand the basics, here are the cocktails.

7 Sparkling Wine Cocktails

1. French 75 – Made with gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, and Brut Champagne, this cocktail can be served in either a Collins glass or a Champagne flute/coupe. It has a little bit of a kick.
2. Black Velvet – This dramatic looking cocktail is made with stout (usually Guinness) and sparkling wine. Fill a glass halfway with wine and top off with the stout.
3. Kir Royale – A deliciously sweet concoction made with sparkling wine topped with crème de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur).
4. St. Germaine Spritzer – St. Germaine is a subtle elderflower liqueur. It pairs well with sparkling wine, club soda, and a lemon twist in this recipe for a lighter cocktail.
5. Prosecco Sangria – We love the idea of making a New Year’s Eve Sangria for guests. This recipe calls for the addition of stone fruits and peach brandy, but you could vary the fruits and brandy depending on your tastes. Champagne Cocktail
6. Chambord and Champagne – For a twist on the Kir Royale, try adding Chambord instead. Chambord is a sweet black raspberry liqueur.
7. Sparkling Margarita – Mix up a pitcher of these sparkling wine margaritas from chef Rick Bayless for a real party on New Year’s.

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Image: Good Cheer via Shutterstock

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Indulge in the sweet luxury of sparkling wine while celebrating with one of these eco-conscious producers. It takes a lot of water to grow grapes, a lot. In fact, the wine industry has been harshly criticized for its negative environmental impact. Finally, some producers are working to offset their impact by switching to eco-conscious packaging and growing organic grapes.

Wines come from all over the world. France has historically been the gold standard but New World regions like South Africa and Argentina are gaining cult followings. Americans are drinking more wine than ever because wine is now more accessible. More consumption has lead to a call for re-evaluating the ways in which wine is produced. Many wineries, like the 11 examples below, are switching to organic grapes, recycled oak barrels and eco-conscious packaging.

There are many different classifications such as organic, GMO free, and biodynamic, each label governed by a single organization that sets the standards. Opinions differ as to which method is the best, but here is a list of 11 wonderful sparkling wines produced by wineries that are conscious of their impact on this earth.

1. Veuve Clicquot Naturally Clicquot Brut Yellow Label (pictured top)

The champagne masters at Veuve Clicquot redesigned their packaging last year so that it’s eco friendly. The new project, called Naturally Clicquot features biodegradable packaging on their classic orange-labeled bottles.

2. Pommery Brut Royal

Pommery is a well-respected Champagne producer and their commitment to environmentally friendly bottles garnered a lot of attention.

3. Domaine Carneros Brut  

Domaine Carneros was the first sparkling winery to be certified by California Certified Organic Farmers in 2008. Domaine Carneros also boast the largest photovoltaic solar array of any winery in the world.

4. Fleury Pere & Fils Champagne Brut Rose De Saignee

Founded in 1895, Fleury was the first Champagne producers to use biodynamics.

5. Sedlescombe 2010 Rosé Brut

The only British producer on our list, Sedlescombe are committed to producing organic wine and their sparkling wine has received critical acclaim.

6. Korbel Organic Brut

The most popular and widely available organic champagne in the US is definitely this delightful champagne from Korbel.

7. Perlage Prosecco Soraloc 

Perlage is especially commited to biodynamic and organic wines. Their various Prosecco wines have won countless awards and Soraloc is the first organic Prosecco DOC with the screw cap.

8.  Champagne Larmandier-Bernier Rose de Saignee Premier Cru Brut 

Larmandier are committed to preserving the soil. From their site: “Consequently, our vines are cultivated with respect for the terroir (ploughing, which favours deep-reaching roots and preserves the life of the soil) and respect for the balances of the plant throughout the growing period. In this way, the yields are naturally moderate and the wine shows its appreciation, through both its structure and its maturity.”

9. Crémant d’Alsace, Albert Mann

A crémant is the name for a sparkling wine made in the traditional Champagne method outside of the region of Champagne in France. The Mann winery produces one of the best. Dry and citrus-driven, with yellow plum fruit, it does best with a light chill. Organic.

10. “Prosa” Frizzante Rosé, Meinklang – 2013

The color is so alluring on this sparkling rose! Biodynamic and organic from Austria. A note from the producer: the Michlits family of the Meinklang farm live and exist within a complete agricultural and viticultural project. Meinklang is a unique entity; for more than 20 years, when Anneliese and Werner took over their family farm, they have sought a close coexistence with nature. After ten years of organic cultivation, they have come to embrace biodynamic principles of diversity as completely as one can. The pride of the farm is a herd of Angus cattle, which provides fertilizer and as well source of income.

11. Galetto Sparkling Rosé, Colli della Murgia

A pretty sparkling wine with a copper hue that will work well as an apéritif wine or as the wine for dinner. This Italian producer is certified organic and this sparkling rose is not hard to find.

Most of these wines are availalbe online and many in stores around the US. If you want to make it easy on yourself, sign up for the Eco Vine wine club and have organic wines delivered to your door.

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A selection of sparkling, white and rosé wine to keep your summer well hydrated. 

Summer is the time the wine glasses come out in abundance. Warm weather encourages relaxing, and what better way to relax than with a glass of wine – rosé wine perhaps? – in your hand? Yes, this is the season of long dinner parties and entertaining, and you have to keep it well fueled.

We’ve gathered up a few of our favorite bottles for summer, all from wineries that care about their farming and grape growing practices.

1. Montinore Borealis 2013

Situated in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, Montinore is a certified Demeter biodynamic estate, and all their wines are noteworthy, but the Borealis deserves a special mention. The Borealis is a special blend of Muller-Thurgau, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Pinot Gris. The result is an aromatic, floral wine, that brings the perfect pop to a summer evening.

2. Frey Organic Agriculturist 2012

While you shouldn’t buy wine for the label, the Frey Organic Agriculturist would be pretty hard to turn down. Fortunately though, the wine inside is also well worth the purchase. The white blend has an ability to pair with a variety of flavors, making it the perfect dinner party wine.

3. Montevina Pinot Grigio 2012

Employing sustainable practices in their vineyards, the Montevina winery has owl boxes to encourage natural removal of pests. That means you can feel good about drinking this Pinot Grigio, which with its aroma of pears and summer peaches, makes for a good basic summer white that will please a crowd.

4. Kung Fu Girl Riesling 2013

Made by renowned vintner Charles Smith, this Riesling pairs well with spicy dishes, like a good Thai curry, as well as grilled seafood. All of the Charles Smith vineyards use recycled water and the most minimal pest and disease controls.

5.Domaine Carneros Brut Rosé 2012

Organic bubbles you want? Organic bubbles you will have. And why not have pink bubbles? At $37 a bottle, this Brut Rosé may be on the pricier end for some, but if you’ve got something to celebrate this summer, it’s a good option, particularly since Domaine Carneros grows their wine grapes on certified organic vineyards.

6. Cline 2013 Mourvèdre Rosé

A black skinned grape, Mourvèdre is a common grape in the French Rhone region as well as Alicante, Spain. In fact, it’s what added to Spanish cava to get cava rosé. But you don’t have to cross the Atlantic to get it. Try a bottle of this rosé wine from Cline Cellars in Sonoma, who employ a variety of sustainable farming practices in their vineyards.

7. Frei Brothers Reserve Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2010

Some can’t go a summer without a glass of Chardonnay. If so, this wine’s for you. You have a bit of apple and citrus flavors, followed by an oaky finish. Frei’s grapes are all sustainably grown, and they even capture and reuse rainwater in their vineyards. 

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Image: Robert S. Donovan

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Be the host with the most eco savoir faire. Follow our lead and pair organic bubbly with born-again vessels for celebrating the spirit of reusing and recycling. Your green guests will drink to that! Of course, mine will drink to anything.

Cheers to Monaco Champagne Flutes made from the top halves of recycled glass wine bottles. In a stunning cobalt blue, they’re $53 from Green with Glamour. Pair with yummy Domaine Carneros Brut, organic since 2005. Although Brut refers to the dryness of the wine, Brut-style sparkling wine and champagne is also traditionally a blend of chardonnay and pinot noir.

Seeing the world through rosé colored glasses is possible when you pour the 100% biodynamically farmed Fleury Brut Rose, $49, into clear, elegant flutes. The wine is French but the pair of flutes was harvested at a local thrift shop and sandblasted with a koi design by Bread and Badger from Etsy.

Get a groove on with this swirled pair of Swirled Recycled Flutes, $59 from At West End. Fill ’em up for friends with the steal of the season, Makulu Moscato, grown with an emphasis on sustainability in the Paarl Ward region of Wellington at the foot of the Hawekwa mountain range in the Western Cape of South Africa. A great deal for $6 at Ingersoll.

Multi-Color Specks Champagne Flutes, set of six $65 from Bellacor, are made through NOVICA, in association with National Geographic, which gives artists and artisans around the world a global platform to express their true artistic talents. The blown glass, skillfully painted by Javier and Efren of Mexico, tickles the senses when  holding Blanquette de Limoux Brut, $20 from the Organic Wine Company, a dry, creamy, full-bodied sparkling wine from certified organic grapes.

Main Image: Cowbite

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