Cocktailing, Cocktailing, Thru the Snow, Christmas Drinks Are Pairing

3 easy Prosecco-based cocktails and 3 Xmas movies you should pair them with.

Prosecco is one the best bubbly beverages you can reach for when preparing for holiday festivities for a number of reasons:

1. It’s affordable, with quality relatively stable across most price points. Bottles between $10 - $30 differ in only minor ways, with any significant difference only present when you start shelling out $35+. And for the purpose of cocktails, you don’t even want the quality prosecco that contains greater complexity and stands on its own.

2. It’s fresh, light in body, and gently fruity - “simple”, in its way. There’s little to complain about, few will dislike it, and it supports and harmonizes lighter and heavy cocktails both. It’s a dependably tasty bubbly base from which to concoct your mad scientist Christmas combinations.

For the purpsose of this post, we ran with one of the most prevalent and dependable Prosecco’s out there that pretty much any of you reading htis can find and purcahse with ease: La Marca.

I’ll let Dallas take it from here!

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Known for its refreshingly crisp expression with hints of yellow citrus, tart apple and honeysuckle, La Marca Prosecco is a very good choice for this season’s holiday celebrations. Its light body and stimulating bubble make it an ideal choice for occasions both festive and flirty. It tickles the palette with a slight sweetness and a solidly pleasant finish.

Here’s 3 Dallas-approved holiday cocktails paired with 3 holiday

Holiday Spritz

This springy little formulation that is a great first drink of a curated holiday drink menu. It's fizzy, effervescent, tart and sweet. It's a punchy onboarding into the festivities, which its more mature bigger brother - the La Marca Holiday Sangria drives home.

Recipe:

1 ounce Cranberry Juice
3/4 ounce Lemon Juice
3/4 ounce Spiced Holiday Syrup
5 ounces Prosecco

Add cranberry juice, lemon juice and spiced holiday syrup to a shaker with ice. Shake then strain over ice into a glass. Top with Prosecco. Garnish with dried citrus, cranberry, and rosemary.

Paired With…

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Any one of them)

The shaper tartness of the spritz, and the lightness of its body, makes for a perfect pairing with the story of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I prefer the OG 1966 animated short film. But I also quite like the Jim Carrey live action feature from 2000 and even the most recent animated feature from 2018.

The OG wasted no time and tells the complete tale as though it was literally just reading the Dr. Suess book to you. It’s got that old-school weirdness and a touch of darkness but overall keeps things lively and light and a happy ending to all. The Jim Carrey movie feels like The Nightmare Before Christmas, it’s both literally and figureatively darker and zanier and is probably the least best match with a spritz. The 2018 animated feature is a proper modern CGI animated all-ages thing, and you’ll drink more than just one spritz during its runtime, but it’ll treat you right.

Holiday Sangria

This mixture certainly adds a fruity factor that takes the bubbly up a half step from purely celebratory to something more casually romantic. It’s a great way to cap off a holiday function with friends or drop ins for neighbors and family.
As far as serving suggestions go one could go wild with combinations of glassware and garnish.

The FLUTE is, of course, the go to vessel for all things Prosecco. But it’s the addition of the fruit and other components that may call for something a bit more substantial.

Like the COUPE, perhaps; said to be modeled after Queen Elizabeth’s own breast, its wide mouth encouraging frequent sips.

And then there’s the TULIP, the traditional glass for white wine.

Truth be told, i’d probably go with something weightier like a Burgandy glass but in this case, a White Wine glass will do just fine. Or heck, a mug would work wonderfully too if you wanted something a bit more casual.

Recipe

1 cup cranberries
1 green apple, sliced
1 orange, sliced
4 sticks of cinnamon
4 ounces of orange juice
4 ounces of brandy
1 bottle of La Marca Prosecco

If you like a sweeter sangria you can add simple or honey syrup to adjust the balance. Add chopped fruit, orange juice, and brandy to a pitcher. Top with a splash of La Marca Prosecco. Pour over ice into serving glasses.

Paired with…

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

The first feature film after Jim Henson’s passing, but helmed by his son, Brian Henson, this film proved that both the Henson Company and the Muppets had a life beyond their progenitor.

Michael Caine is perfection as an empathetic Scrooge. The Muppets themselves are perfectly selected to play each supporting role, the humor is still smart, the puppetry intricate, and the musical numbers by regular Frank Oz collaborator, Miles Goodman (Little Shop of Horrors, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) are catchy and enhance the proceedings. I think this film has my fave design for the Ghost of Christmas Future!

Obviously, Cristmas Carol is heavier stuff, but still fun and jaunty when overlaid with the Henson Company magic. Prosecco Sangria is something you’ll sip lower, letting in the lusciousness of the sugar and fruit, while allowing the bright bubbly to keep it celebratory.

Sparkling Eggnog

I shared this recipe in our recent Thanksgiving podcast / pairing with the movie HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS. But it’s a beauty to make for Christmas as well, AND I think I have the perfect Xmas movie pairing here as well.

Recipe

• 3 and 1/4 cup Prosecco

• 1/2 cup of sugar

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 8 cardamom seeds

• zest of one good orange

• zest of half good lemon

• half vanilla pod

• 3 cloves

• 8 seeds of all spice

STEP 1: Start pouring the wine of your choice in a large cold pot, then add sugar.

STEP 2: Coarsely crush cloves, all the spice and cardamom, extract the seeds from vanilla and add all the spices to wine.

STEP 3: SLOWLY bring to a boil to keep the carbonation intact. Start heat at level 1. Then increase to 2, then 3, etc. Simmer for 8 minutes, just long enough for the spices to infuse. Then, set aside.

For the eggnog, per serving:

• 1 egg yolk

• 1 spoonful of sugar

• 1/4 cup of spicy mulled wine

STEP 1: Whisk the egg yolk with the sugar; add 1/4 of warm spicy mulled wine.

STEP 2: Cook in a water bath for 2 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk.

(Eggnog will be ready as soon as it begins to thicken. Be careful not to overcook, or you'll ruin it like you ruin everything.)

STEP 3: Add a sprinkle of white pepper or nutmeg on top. Whipped cream if you’re feeling gluttonous.

I’m handing the reigns back to Dave for the pairing of this one.

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Paired with…

The Polar Express (2004)

What better movie to pair an offbeat take on eggnog than this uncanny-valley animated movie featuring scenes where kids must drink beverages scalding hot (don’t let it cool!), the white winter wonderland is everywhere, adventure is the theme - nothing about this movie or story should work much like heated bubbly and eggnog but you know what? It does.

I know - the animation is eerie. It is. But the more I watch this film, year after year (it’s my pop’s fave) it grows on you. Only 3 movies were ever made with this technology, so none of us had much of a chance to adapt to it, but it’s worth trying once or twice to see if it does. This is a flick that’s filled with action set pieces that are surprising, a third act that’s wildly BIG, and a denoument that’s perfect.

Much like bubbly and eggnog, baby. :)

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Merry Christmas and Happy holidays, everyone. Thank you so much for reading, and we’ll be back one more time before the New Year with our End of Year Fave Substacks and Podcasts lists to share with you. Take care, survive your families until then, and talk soon!