The original Champagne Cocktail started the fashion for sparkling drinks.
In case your Hallmark calender didn’t clue you in, Oct. 28 is World Champagne Day.
Actually, it’s a brand new observance created as a time to celebrate all the wonderful things about the unique sparkling wine called La Champagne from the region southeast of Paris known as Le Champagne.
I wanted to share a recipe for the Champagne Cocktail, which dates to the 1850s and is the first documented cocktail made with champagne. Just drop Angostura Bitters on sugar cube, drop it into a glass of cold brut champagne and finish it off with a lemon twist.
The other thing that’s so lovely about champagne is the way it’s inspired bon vivants and lovers of the good life through the ages to say all sorts of witty things. These are some of my favorite champagne quotes:
“A woman should never be seen eating or drinking, unless it be lobster salad and Champagne, the only true feminine and becoming viands.” – Lord Byron
“I drink Champagne when I win, to celebrate…and I drink Champagne when I lose, to console myself.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
“Burgundy makes you think of silly things; Bordeaux makes you talk about them, and Champagne makes you do them.” – Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
Lily Bollinger was a wit and a savvy Champagne widow.
“I drink champagne when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it – unless I’m thirsty.” – Madame Lily Bollinger
“Too much of anything is bad, but too much Champagne is just right.” – Mark Twain
“Champagne is the only wine that leaves a woman beautiful after drinking it.” – Madame De Pompadour
“Champagne offers a minimum of alcohol and a maximum of companionship.” – David Niven
“Pleasure without champagne is purely artificial.” – Oscar Wilde
“There comes a time in every woman’s life when the only thing that helps is a glass of champagne.” – Bette Davis in ‘Old Acquaintance’
“Champagne makes you feel like it’s Sunday and better days are around the corner.” – Marlene Dietrich
“My only regret in life is that I did not drink more Champagne.” – John Maynard Keynes
