Spring Sips: Set Up a Sparkling Wine Cocktail Bar

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.

By: H. Camille Smith

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Photo By: Sarah Busby; Styling by H. Camille Smith

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!

From: H. Camille Smith

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.

From: H. Camille Smith

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.

From: H. Camille Smith

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.

From: H. Camille Smith

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.

From: H. Camille Smith

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.

From: H. Camille Smith

Stash Necessities Below

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

From: H. Camille Smith

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.

From: H. Camille Smith

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.

From: H. Camille Smith

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.

From: H. Camille Smith

Spring Sips: Set Up a Sparkling Wine Cocktail Bar

Related To:

Shop This Look

Toast to Spring

Get Ready to Chill

Let Them Help Themselves

Bring On the Mixers

Don't Forget Garnishes

Spell It Out

Stash Necessities Below

Toast the Season

Garnishes: Fresh Is Best

Serving Pieces: Use What You Have

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