Set Up the Ultimate Champagne Bar for Your New Year's Eve Celebration

Planning a New Year’s Eve celebration? The New Year can be such an exciting time, full of fresh starts and future plans. It makes sense to ring it in with your closest family and friends. Popping open a bottle of bubbly is a surefire way to get the party started. But keeping the party going is another story, you don’t want to have to pour bottle after bottle throughout the night. Setting up a self-serve champagne bar will not only stretch your bubbly supply with the addition of juices and liquors, it will also leave you free to hang with your guests and actually enjoy your own bash.

So put some bubbly on ice, stock up on aperitifs and fresh juices, and gather up some other garnishes. Here’s how to set up the ultimate bubbly bar:

Stock up on Bowers Harbor Vineyards Sparkling Wine

Skip the high-end vintage Champagne. Opt for a dry, domestic, sparkling wine. One bottle of bubbly is enough for about eight cocktails, so keep your RSVP list in mind when shopping. My personal favorites are:

 

2012 2896 Brut Rosé

• 100% Pinot Noir and estate-grown
• Strawberry fruit flavors with hints of white pepper
• Great with smoked salmon, brie cheese and prosciutto, chocolate and raspberries

Blanc de Blanc

• Explodes with bubbles
• Always a crowd favorite
• Bright green apple flavors
• Delicious with stuffed mushrooms, buttered popcorn, shortbread cookies

2015 Pinot Secco

• 100% Pinot Gris
• Refreshing citrus flavors
• Great with oysters, bacon-wrapped asparagus, almonds & antipasto

 

Stock Up on Booze

Experimentation is half the fun of a self-service Champagne bar, so make sure to gather up a wide range of liqueurs and spirits. Some of my favorites include:

• Cognac
• Gin
• St-Germain
• Bourbon
• Crème de Cassis

 

Gather the Mixers

Dry Champagne works well with most juices, so encourage your guests to mix, match and try something they otherwise wouldn’t order at a bar. I suggest stocking up on the following:

• Simple syrup
• Sugar cubes
• Bitters
• Peach juice
• Orange juice
• Stout beer
• Lemon juice
• Cranberry juice
• Grapefruit juice

 

Garnish Your Bubbly Bar

Not only will a variety of garnishes make your bubbly cocktails look beautiful, booze-soaked fruit is always a treat to find at the bottom of your flute. Set up bowls of raspberries, strawberries and cranberries for guests to plop into their bubbly libations. Pre-cut lemon and grapefruit twists are also great flavor enhancers and a lot of fun.

 

Pop Those Bottles!

Now that your bubbly bar is all set up, it’s time to make the cocktails. Fill a large bucket with ice to keep a few opened bottles on hand. Store the extra bottles in the fridge for later use.

Label your booze, mixers and garnishes with note cards, mini chalkboards or simply line a table with butcher paper and write ingredient names directly on the surface. Set out Champagne flutes, jiggers and bar spoons.

While I say go ahead and experiment with new flavors and inventing unique cocktails, here are a few of my favorite classic combinations to get you started.

• Champagne + orange juice = Mimosa
• Champagne + crème de cassis = Kir Royale
• Champagne + bitters + sugar cube + lemon twist = Champagne Cocktail
• Champagne + peach juice = Bellini
• Champagne + stout beer = Black Velvet
• Champagne + gin + lemon juice + simple syrup = French 75 (my absolute FAVE!)

Hope this inspires you to set up your own version of bubbly bar, I know that I have never NOT had a good time at a party where there’s been a self-serve bar...

Happy New Year everyone! Wishing you all a safe and fun holiday! Cheers to 2018!

 

Top 10 Gifting Ideas

1. Snowshoe Wine & Brew Tour

This is one of the most fun things to do in the winter. Who doesn’t like snowshoeing through the beautiful vineyards and wine tasting with a group of friends or as a fun day date? This tour starts at Jolly Pumpkin where the Brew Bus will pick you up and drop you off at Brys Estate Vineyard and Winery. From there you will snowshoe a marked trail to Bowers Harbor Vineyards, and then follow the interpretive trail back to Jolly Pumpkin. Enjoy 5 tastes and glass specials at each spot!

2. Spirit Cider Society Membership

Our brand new Spirit Cider Society is here! 

Join in December for only $125!
*Starting January 1st, $150 one-time joining fee

Membership Includes: 

• Stainless Steel Growler
• First Growler Fill Free
• Spirit Cider Hat
• Spirit Cider Decal Sticker
• Pint Glass to Take Home
• First Access to Newly Released Cider
• 15% Off All Spirit Cider & Spirit Cider Merchandise
• Free Birthday Pint
• Special Activities & Events for Cider Club Members

3. Gift Basket

Delight your family and friends with a special gift basket created just for them! We've curated a few of our favorite gifts inside the basket for them to enjoy. A gift basket is a unique wedding, holiday or housewarming gift! We have a few different options available, just click on Gift Basket above to check them out! 

4. New Year's Eve Sparkling Wine 

Our Brut Rosé came out on top in a recent poll as to what people would prefer to get under their tree at Christmas and we think it’s a wonderful gift to give or get all year long. There’s just something about bubbles that screams “Celebrate!”

5. Gift Card

Gift cards are the perfect gift for someone who has everything! They can be used on wine and merchandise both. We have two different gift cards to serve every gifting need.

6. Cork Cage

There are some people who don’t think saving evidence of how many bottles of wine you drink is cool…but we aren’t one of them. We have a wide variety of decorative cork cages that you can use to save the corks from your favorite wines and remember the memories for years to come.

7. Wine Club Membership

Our wine club membership is amazing. It is one of the few wine club memberships that is customizable to your liking! We pick our favorites each quarter but if you’d rather have something different, then we will switch them out! We have three different clubs to choose from and offer a ton of fun in the form of wine club dinners and tasting room perks.

8. Holiday Date Night Wine Dinner

Everyone can use a date night, right? Wow your special someone with a special night, just for the two of you. Click on the link above to view the menu, it is sure to impress!

9. Mix & Match Case of Wine

There are few things I’d rather get as a gift than a case of wine….I mean WHO wouldn’t want that? Our mix & match options gives you the chance to choose your favorites, their favorites, some new ones AND a cider or two. All orders of a case of wine automatically get 15% off!

10. Dog Bandana

Because your pooch deserves it. 

Enjoy!