Blackberry Lavender Vouvray Cocktail

There we are: final Wedding Day countdown – one day to go! It’s time to celebrate with some bubbles. Good news: I’ve got for you the perfect festive and fancy cocktail!

Everything is now ready for our wedding, and I can’t believe it’s tomorrow already! While we are trying to relax, David and I are slowly starting to get ready before we meet our friends tonight for a pre-party all together. I like these small informal times when you can just hang out and take time to meet people for real, talk and catch up a bit. Our guests are coming from many different countries and it’s gonna be such a feeling to meet them in my hometown Tours already tonight, enjoying the warm weather by the Loire river, while having a drink together.

The big day is tomorrow but tonight is almost equally important to us and we are so looking forward to it! I have been thinking a lot about the recipe I could share with you the day before the wedding. Being in such a festive mood, all I could come up with was a festive cocktail. Because we’ll be drinking cocktails to celebrate our wedding with friends and family, but also because I am thrilled to share my happiness with you as well! So let’s have a e-drink to our wedding together, my dear readers!

This cocktail could have been a regular Champagne cocktail –  also, made with Champagne – but as you can see here, I went for Vouvray instead of Champagne. Let me explain why: in France, we are maybe not as obsessed with Champagne as other countries are. Here, we drink Champagne in Champagne region and around. For the others, we usually value our regional sparkling wines instead, depending on which region we are from.

In Touraine where I am originally from, Vouvray is one of the most famous sparkling wine, and also my very favorite one over Champagne. It’s a matter of personal taste mostly, as I am de facto more used to Vouvray for a very long time and find it less bitter in taste. My credo: you’d better go for Vouvray than for a bad quality Champagne. I am not saying here that all Champagne are bad (not at all!), but you’ve got to be careful instead of rushing yourself to the first Champagne-labelled bottle. Now again, it’s a matter of taste and you could equally go for Champagne instead of Vouvray for this cocktail recipe. It’s entirely up to you!

So what’s in my Vouvray cocktail? I had to make it very special, and simple at the same time, because that’s the way I am. Two main ingredients here: fresh blackberries and lavender. Yes, I used some flowers in my cocktail! To me, lavender evokes the South of France, Provence, but also summertime. And because the wedding is all about the Midsummer celebration, flowers make sense here.

Keep in mind that all lavender are not edible, or they are but you’d better go for some that are labelled “culinary lavender” 100% pure lavender flowers with no additives or preservatives, that you can find in regular lavender you use to simply decorate the house. Here I infused the lavender flowers in a subtle sauce made with blackberry coulis, vodka and maple syrup. If you can, let sit for a couple of hours or overnight in the fridge before serving, to give the lavender some time to infuse.

Once ready, simply pour one teaspoon in a flute and pour some chilled Vouvray. Just add a stem of fresh lavender, some berries of your choice (I went for blackberries and raspberries because they are my favorites), and it’s ready to serve. Cheers to you, dear readers, and let’s keep in touch for more info about the wedding very soon now. Remember, we created the #delanddavid2017, the best way to follow us on Insta tomorrow!

Blackberry Lavender Vouvray Cocktail

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• Author: Delphine Fortin
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins
• Total Time: 25 mins
• Yield: 8 pers. 1x
• Category: Beverages
• Cuisine: French recipes

There we are: final Wedding Day countdown – one day to go! It’s time to celebrate with some bubbles. Good news: I’ve got for you the perfect festive and fancy cocktail!

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Ingredients

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• 1 cup (150g) blackberries
• ½ cup (120 ml) maple syrup
• ¼ cup (60 ml) vodka
• 1 Tablespoon fresh or dry lavender flowers
• 2 bottles Vouvray wine (or Champagne)

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Instructions

1. Boil blackberries, maple syrup and vodka, mashing berries gently as they cook until blackberries are broken down, about 5 minutes.
2. Add lavender flowers (petals only) and boil for 1 minute.
3. Remove from heat and pass through a sieve to remove the seeds.
4. To serve, pour 1 teaspoon blackberry sauce into a champagne flute, and top with chilled Vouvray. Add a stem of fresh lavender and one or two fresh berries of your choice.

Berries, Party Foods, Spring, Summer

Did you make this recipe?

Lastly, if you make this Blackberry Lavender Vouvray Cocktail, be sure to leave a comment and give this recipe a rating, letting me know how you liked it. And of course, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Thank you and enjoy!