ABOUT ME
I’m Maria Hunt aka The Bubbly Girl, author of The Bubbly Bar the ultimate guide to entertaining with sparkling wine cocktails.
Champagnes and sparkling wines are my passion and I want more people add these joyful wines with every day meals and especially when entertaining.
Besides being an award-winning journalist, wine educator and entertaining expert based in California, I’m a Culinary Institute of America Certified Wine Professional and I’m studying to become a certified member of The Court of Master Sommeliers.
I create custom cocktails for celebrities, weddings, charity and corporate events, consult on cocktail and wine menus and lead enlightening parties and tastings focusing on bubbly.
I’ll help you discover your inner Bubbly Girl (or Boy)! Remember, it’s always better with bubbly!
My Story
I was pretty much destined to write about food and wine and become a Bubbly Girl. My family was filled with great cooks and passionate eaters in the city of Chicago, where the culinary landscape ranged from the finest French restaurants and Italian trattorie to excellent deep-dish pizza and barbecue ribs. And then there were my favorite childhood books: Blueberries for Sal and Anatole, about a beret-wearing mouse who was a top secret Roquefort and St. André taster at a Parisian cheese factory.
Completely by accident, I experienced sparkling wine for the first time around the age of 7. I was standing nearby as one of my cousins struggled to open a bottle of Cold Duck. By the time she got the plastic cork out of the bottle, it had been so shaken up that I was showered with the sweet red wine! And every time I hear the Christmas song Carol of the Bells, I still think about the old André sparkling wine commercial with the clinking champagne coupes.
Fortunately, my taste in wine improved! While earning my degree in from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, I worked for some of the best caterers and restaurants in Chicago. I learned about the First Amendment and inverted pyramids by day and fine French service and pithiviers at night.
I drank my share of brunch Mimosas, Kir Royales and special bottles of Dom Perignon or Veuve Clicquot over the next several years. But my bubbly epiphany occurred as a new food writer exploring some of New York City’s finest restaurants – on a budget. I asked the waiter at Rocco DiSpirito’s Union Pacific to suggest a wine that worked with the French and Asian flavors. I was amazed as a gently sparkling glass of Riesling sekt kept up with rouget with raisins and capers to langoustine in a curried carrot foam.
But traveling in Europe was where I really discovered that sparkling wines were meant for every day. I found that Venetians welcomed spring with the prosecco and peach nectar Bellini cocktail, Parisians sipped Champagne after work, the Basque in the South of France enjoyed an exotic sparkling wine called txakoli with freshly caught seafood.
And at a glorious luncheon at Trianon in Épernay with my sister, we sipped a different Moët et Chandon champagne with everything from foie gras terrine to chocolate mousse.
Back at home in the United States, I found that most people (except Bubbly Girls!) thought that champagne and sparkling wine were only for weddings and New Year’s Eve. And they had no idea that champagne is often a sommelier’s go-to wine when it comes to food pairings.
I started learning as much as I could about sparkling wines from around the world.
I studied wine with Karen MacNeil and Holly Peterson at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in the Napa Valley. I got up early to pick pinot noir grapes and learn the intricacies of blending during the Schramsberg Sparkling Wine Symposium. I earned the title of Certified Wine Professional, Level One in 2006 from the CIA. The next year I passed my first level exam with the American Court of Master Sommeliers.
Since I wanted to share everything I was learning and experiencing, my adventures in bubbly are chronicled on my Bubbly Girl Blog and on my site The Bubbly Girl, which is a destination and resource for any one who loves sparkling wine and champagne and wants to know more about them. You’ll find cocktail and food recipes designed for entertaining, education on trends and tips on great wines to try. I’ll also share what I’m up to with fun projects like designing custom cocktails and my private wine and food classes where people taste how sparkling wines make great matches with every day food.
And that’s pretty much how I became the Bubbly Girl; won’t you join me?
MARIA’s BOOK
The Bubbly Bar: Champagne and Sparkling Wine Cocktails for Every Occasion
“A swank drink from the classic cocktail era, the champagne cocktail is re-imagined with fresh ingredients and no longer saved for special occasions – bubbly is the occasion.”
—Maria Hunt, author of The Bubbly Bar: Champagne & Sparkling Wine Cocktails for Every Occasion (Clarkson Potter, August 2009) Champagnes and sparkling wines are selling like never before and not just for Valentine’s Day or New Year’s Eve toasts. We’re now in the era of Bubbly Whenever – and these enticing bubbles are part of experiencing the good life 365 days a year. We don’t think twice about popping open affordable bottles of prosecco or brut rosé with brunch or barbecue just because it tastes good. And mixologists at hip bars around the world are making champagne part of the mix in delicious cocktails that include spirits like rum and gin, seasonal fruit and handcrafted syrups.
In my first book The Bubbly Bar: Champagne & Sparkling Wine Cocktails for Every Occasion I share loads of simple and delicious sparkling cocktail recipes to make at home. Whether you mix up historical classics like the French 75 (Champagne, gin, sour mix and a brandied cherry) or a Bellini (Prosecco and peach puree) or more modern drinks like the Ginger Snap (sparkling sake and ginger root) or Pomegranate Passion Floats (sparkling wine, pomegranate liqueur, passion fruit sorbet) your friends are sure to be impressed. I explore eight creative cocktail themes in each chapter of the book: Classics, Bubbletinis, Fruitful Fizz, Rose-Colored, Mixed and Muddled, Latin Libations, Floral-Flavored, and Happy Endings (dessert) cocktails. All the recipes in The Bubbly Bar emphasize intense flavor combinations, fresh ingredients and minimal effort.
Descriptive side bars and glossaries explain how to make fancy citrus peel spirals, frost the rim of a glass with sugar or craft natural mixers like sour mix or an exotic and versatile Black Pepper Syrup. A detailed reference section in the back of the book guides you to choosing the best bubbly made around the world both by country and by price. Think bubbly has to be expensive to be good? I reveal some great finds under $15. Whether you’re searching for a special Champagne, a California sparkling wine, Spanish cava or organic sparkling wines, I’ve come up with a list of the best names and values to look out for when you’re popping into your favorite wine shop or visiting wineries.
In short, the Bubbly Bar is a must-have for anyone who loves entertaining and creating cocktails at home or who is a fan of sparkling wine and champagne and wants to know how to enjoy these wines more fully. Remember, everything’s better with bubbly!