Ushering in the New Year, wherever you are in the world, is such a festivity. Fireworks, toasts, kisses… Good, fun vibes and (drunken!) parties all around.
Customarily, festivities of this magnitude call to mind (and mouth) bottles upon bottles of sparkling wine, preferably Champagne.
Our family (and most friends), as you can probably tell, is pretty unconventional. We wouldn’t be averse to partying with the more affordable Champagne alternatives (like Cava, Prosecco, or a new world Brut), but we’re not the types to shy away from a fabulous bottle of Champagne, especially when brought by a fellow wino.
Our chef BFF normally comes around during Christmas with a plated dish for a present (fancy!). This year, with our family home from the US, our schedule just could not accommodate his usual yummy delights. He settled instead for the next best thing and brought over a bottle of Möet en Chandon. Champagne plus crazy conversations (and the latest gossip!) equals fun fun FUN!
Champagne being an aperitif, we decided to raid our cellar and got a bottle of red, the Lapostolle Carmenère. Wonderfully complex, it went famously with the Puttanesca.
Typically, after watching the fireworks (either from our window or with fellow revellers along the streets of CBD), we would venture out to Chihuahua and have some of their killer margaritas. It would be such an adventure, walking/driving through the last bits of fireworks just to get there. We would be rewarded with some of the best booze, conversation, and tacos in town. Going through what seems like a war zone has always been worth it.
This year, however, we celebrated the coming of 2015 in our parents’ house, setting off fireworks, and having a bottle of Asti. Refreshingly sweet and easy even for novice wine drinkers to consume, it went perfectly with the 12 grapes we had.
Eating 12 grapes on the stroke of midnight apparently symbolises good luck for all the 12 months in the year. Interesting tradition we inherited from Chad’s side of the family.
As you can see, I like my grapes fermented or fresh from the supermarket. 😉 2014 was a fabulous year. I say 2015 will be even more stupendous. Happy New Year!
