Make It Champagne

Perhaps it's the millennium and its promise of partying on a global scale that has made champagne the drink of the decade. In fact, the bubbly is so much in demand that some producers are conderned they may run out before the end of the century. Add another drinking trend--the return of the martini--and you have the ingredients for a major bash come December 31, 1999. If the martini is king of mixed drinks, the champagne cocktail is the queen. The original version is simple: Moisten a sugar cube with a few dashes of Angostura bitters, place it in the bottom of a champagne flute, carefully fill the glass with champagne and garnish with a lemon twist. The sugar makes the wine fizz, so be careful as you pour. Variations on the theme have been around almost as long as the original, and adding half an (concluded on page 152) Champagne (continued from page 83) ounce of cognac, Grand Marnier or Cointreau has become a common practice. The Bellini, made with champagne and white peach puree, is also a classic. But in the Nineties, when new, diverse products such as lemon rum, vanilla vodka, jalapeño tequila and citrus gin present a wide variety of unusual ingredients, professional bartenders and amateur mixologists are creating their own sparkling versions of the champagne cocktail.

Pop Goes The Cork

Because a champagne cocktail calls for sugar, bitters and often another liquor, you shouldn't use the most expensive champagne. Expect to pay $15 to $25 for a nonvintage bottle of bubbly. The extra ingredients in the cocktail will mask the finer points of an expensive wine anyway, so save that for a worthy occasion--such as the millennium itself.

The glass you choose is also important. Although you may be tempted to opt for a champagne saucer (the shape of which is said to have been modeled after Marie Antoinette's left breast), we recommend a chilled tulip or flute style. Both of these glasses retain the carbonation in the bubbly and concentrate the cocktail's nose rather than dissipate it over a broad surface.

Raise your glass to the following drinks and the establishments that made them famous.

[recipe_title]Arabesque (La Griglia, Houston)[/recipe_title]

[recipe]5 crushed strawberries[/recipe]

[recipe]1 ounce Absolut Citron vodka[/recipe]

[recipe]1/2 ounce Campari[/recipe]

[recipe]1 ounce champagne[/recipe]

[recipe]Put 1 cup of ice in a blender and add strawberries, vodka, Campari and most of the champagne. Blend well. Pour into a champagne flute; top with remaining splash of champagne.[/recipe]

[recipe_title]P&P's Bellini (Puccini & Pinetti, San Francisco)[/recipe_title]

[recipe]1-1/4 ounces Stolichnaya flavored vodka[/recipe]

[recipe]4 ounces champagne[/recipe]

Fill a champagne flute with champagne. Top it off with peach, strawberry or raspberry Stolichnaya.

[recipe_title]Diamond Champagne Cocktail (Rainbow Room, New York)[/recipe_title]

[recipe]1 skewer of crystallized sugar[/recipe]

[recipe]Angostura bitters[/recipe]

[recipe]Champagne[/recipe]

[recipe]Orange liqueur[/recipe]

Soak skewer of sugar in Angostura bitters until saturated; place in a champagne flute. Nearly fill flute with champagne. Float orange liqueur on top.

[recipe_title]Fallen Angel (Drovers Tap Room, New York)[/recipe_title]

[recipe]1 ounce Bacardi Limón rum[/recipe]

[recipe]Splash of triple sec[/recipe]

[recipe]Splash of cranberry juice[/recipe]

[recipe]Champagne[/recipe]

In a shaker half-filled with ice, combine rum, triple sec and cranberry juice. Shake and strain into a chilled martini glass. Top with champagne; garnish with a twist of lemon.

[recipe_title]Tulio Oro (Tulio, Seattle)[/recipe_title]

[recipe]1 lemon twist[/recipe]

[recipe]3/4 ounce Limoncello[/recipe]

[recipe]1/2 ounce Punt e Mes[/recipe]

[recipe]6 ounces Prosecco (a sweet Italian sparkling wine)[/recipe]

[recipe]1 candied lemon wheel[/recipe]

In a shaker half-filled with ice, combine lemon twist, Limoncello and Punt e Mes. Shake and strain into a champagne flute. Add the Prosecco; garnish with lemon wheel.

[recipe_title]Tbilisi Royale (Firebird Russian Restaurant, New York)[/recipe_title]

[recipe]1/8 ounce Stolichnaya Limonnaya vodka[/recipe]

[recipe]1/4 ounce peach schnapps[/recipe]

[recipe]Champagne[/recipe]

[recipe]1 orange twist[/recipe]

[recipe]1 maraschino cherry, skewered onto a stirrer[/recipe]

Pour vodka and schnapps into a champagne flute; top with champagne and garnish with orange twist and cherry.

Champagne Hassler (Osteria Del Circo, New York)

There are no exact measurements for this drink, which was named for the Hassler Hotel in Rome. Cut a passion fruit in half and, in front of your companion, squeeze the juice of one half into a flute. Top with champagne.

Champagne Medicato (Le Cirque 2000, New York)

This four-star restaurant notes that this drink can be made with a number of secondary ingredients. Medicato means "medicated" in Italian, and the drink calls for a glass of champagne that has been strengthened with a drop of a secondary ingredient. Le Cirque 2000 suggests Campari, but in France, Chambord would be the medicine of choice.

Expect to pay $15 to $25 for a nonvintage bubbly. Save your good stuff for the millennium.