My friend Annie T. is a gal with a passion for the bubbly.  Over the weekend she concocted a 'to die for' sparkling wine cocktail, and those of us indulging were hooked.  I love this for a fall evening as the bourbon and bitter orange are the flavors of the season.  I quickly acquired the recipe and served them up the next night for some serious wine drinking folks..again, a hit.  Mix up a batch of the following elixir. 

1 cup bourbon or rye whiskey-I used Maker's Mark

2 tsp orange bitters–I used Fee Brothers

5-6 tablespoons superfine sugar

Mix until sugar is dissolved.  Pour over ice and top with sparkling wine.  Finish off with a lemon twist.    

You can adjust the proportion but we used about 1/4 elixir to 3/4 sparkler.  Maybe a little more elixir–it's an inexact science.  Anne used Mumm, I used Domaine Chandon, anything from that shelf above goes!  Cheers. xoSB