New Year's With Bubbles

Planning for a Successful Holiday

In the middle of all the holidays, it’s so hard to plan for everything, isn’t it? Make sure the food is all bought, put together, roast in the oven, tree turned on, menorah lit, or whatever traditions you and your friends and family participate in … it’s wonderful and stressful at the same time, isn’t it?

New Years Means Bubbles!

For New Year's Eve, there is no other picture-perfect symbol of the holiday than the tall flute of Champagne with the tiny bubbles rising to the top. Sparkling wines and New Year's go hand in hand, there is no doubt, so we’ll talk about some great wines for the occasion and some great information about toasting, some history, and great party ideas to ring in the New Year with style and pizzazz.

What and How Much?

The hardest thing to do for most people to do is to figure out exactly what sparkling wine to get and then how much of it to buy for their celebration. Luckily for you, glasses of champagne tend to be smaller than regular glasses of wine, so you can get more mileage from your bottle of bubbles.

The only problem is that the toasting moment comes at midnight—your guests have probably been there for longer than an hour eating, drinking, and being merry as it were. So you have to buy extra wines to accommodate everyone up to the midnight hour, so keep that in mind as well.

I think on average you can get about seven or eight glasses out of a bottle of bubbles. Most people tend to drink about two or three glasses of wine (especially small ones) per hour. So depending on how many guests you have over you can use the simple calculation to figure out how much you need. Just remember, it’s better to have more wine on hand then to run out (like food—it’s better to have more than enough than not enough, right?)

Hints and Tricks

Once you choose the wines and bring them home, don’t stick the bubbles in the refrigerator until the New Year's Eve morning. If you buy them way ahead of time and keep them in the fridge too long it’s possible that the wines could taste a little flat.

If you haven’t already done so, invest in a champagne ice bucket. These things come in all shapes and sizes—but let me tell you, they are worth it! These things save you from going to the kitchen, opening the fridge, getting the wine, pouring it, putting it back, and closing the door again. With a lot of guests, these trips would be frequent and probably annoying to you as the host.

The ice bucket is great to have because it keeps the wine cold and out where the guests are congregating around the table or family room, or wherever they are. Plus the buckets can look nice and be a great part of the decorations as well. Last thing: use fluted glasses. Don't use the big wide-bowled glasses from the '60s and '70s. They make the wine lose the bubbles way too fast, and since you hold these glasses by the bowl the bubbly warms up from the heat in your hand. Just scrap those.

Small Pours

Last thing to remember: think small pours. Bubbles are great when they’re served cold; once the wine warms up too much the bubbles dissipate fast and it gets stale in the glass. Small pours do two things. First, they keep the wine cold in the glass. Small pours mean the guest can finish the wine before it gets too warm. Second, small pours also slow down consumption. Unless the guest is sitting next to the ice bucket pouring themselves non-stop glasses of wine, it’s a great way to be a little safer during the holidays.

The Toast

So the moment arrives … you gather around the television and watch the glittering orb descend in Times Square and the toast is given and "Auld Lang Syne" is sung (kudos to you if you know all the words!). You raise your glass and say “Happy New Year” or something short and sweet. And believe me, at moments like this where it’s late in the evening you do want to make the toasts short and sweet; this is no time for an oratory tome.

It is your duty as the host to initiate the toast. For those non-drinking guests, make sure they have some liquid besides water in their glass. Tradition says it is bad luck to toast with water. The toast itself goes back to the Greek days, where poisoning of wine had been a favorite way of disposing of a rival or creating a short-cut to divorce. Therefore, it was the custom of the host to raise his glass and drink first to assure his guests that the beverage they were about to consume was safe--a sign of friendship. Scary, huh? Luckily we know you’re a trustworthy host, so now it’s just a sign of friendship to toast in general.

Where to Buy?

Some great wines for the occasion are to be found in your favorite wine shop or even the big price clubs (Costco, BevMo, etc.) Here is just one simple rule I heartily recommend and stand behind with all gusto I can muster: make sure the bottle of bubbles is done in Methode Champenoise or Methode Tradionelle (same thing). You can read more about it our Champagne article, but suffice to say it’s the higher quality way of making sparkling wines. All French Champagne is done this way, as well as the higher quality U.S. brands.

Some Favorites

• Roederer Estate—NV Anderson Valley, California. $21.00

I say time and time again that I think this is easily California’s best sparkling wine for the price. Owned by their parent company of Roederer in France, they do their wines in the French style: high acidity, minerality, and no over-ripe flavors. It’s loaded with citrus fruit and fresh green apple. You won’t find any of the toasty oak or baked apple pie/fresh dough that other sparkling wines have, it’s just not that style.

• Charles Ellner—NV Epernay, France. $29.00

Wow! I found this years ago when it first came to the states. It was relatively unknown here (and much cheaper then, too). I think this is classic Champagne without spending a mint that you would have to in order to get other equally tasty ones from the same area. Great notes of biscuits, mineral, and lemon curd. Another high-acid wine, so food is recommended.

• Schramsberg—NV Blanc de Blancs, Napa, California. $27.00

A great sparkling-wine producer from Napa Valley. This was actually the first sparkling wine served at the White House and served when President Nixon entertained the Chinese Premier. This is a great wine to drink because it’s so versatile. Made from 100 percent Chardonnay grapes, this sparkling wine exhibits pineapple, tropical and some lemon-lime notes as well.

• Korbel—Natural/Brut NV, Sonoma County, California. $11.00

Yeah, we’ve all seen the commercials where if it’s “not Korbel, it’s not worth drinking” but in all honesty, at this price-point it’s difficult to beat this wine. The Natural is sold in limited amounts outside their tasting room, and their Brut is the most popular selling sparkling wine in the United States today. It has consistent taste, and done in the quality method. Although simpler-tasting on the palate, it delivers consistent flavors of baked apple and hints of vanilla.

Happy Holidays!

With some of these suggestions, you’re sure to have a leg-up on preparing and enjoying (and getting through!) the holidays. Happy Holidays, and a wonderful and safe New Year to each of you!