Any bubbly lover worth their salt knows that “Champagne” refers exclusively to those wines produced in the province located near the northern limits of the wine world along the 49th parallel. Anybody with access to wikipedia knows this as well. God love the French (he doesn’t really. J/K!), but there are plenty of throat-tickling victuals outside of such stringent boundaries that are worth checking out.

The Italian alternative Prosecco is from the Veneto region, is absolutely delicious and can be much less destructive on the wallet especially when intended to be mixed for Bellinis and Mimosas. And Cava, mostly produced in Catalonia, Spain, is so yummy and venerated that it is often imbibed at family gatherings. Gatherings such as baptisms, where even the newly head-dampened babe can celebrate his/her near miss with purgatory/eternal damnation with a pacifier dip in the vino.

Like, açai is the new pomegranate, is the new blueberry (as far as antioxidant-packed sexy fruit is concerned), the new cava/prosecco/champagne cocktail worth paying attention to (read: drinking boatloads of) is easy and eternally sexy. Wild hibiscus flowers in syrup are readily available from gourmet grocers and the information super highway. Gently place a macerated whole bulb on the bottom of your glass flute, pour Cava over the top and add several drops of the syrup. The color and flavor is exquisite as is the eating of the flower afterwards. Flowers, after all, are the new fruit, are the new vegetable.