Remembering Marilyn Monroe with Summer Champagne Punch!
9 Aug, 12 / 
The white dress, the red lipstick, the blonde curls—these are the details that made Marilyn Monroe timeless. We remember her singing of diamonds, marrying a baseball player, and drinking Dom Perignon champagne.
Mostly, she drank champagne while wearing long, white cocktail gloves and elegant dresses. But, there were certainly moments when she drank champagne on an empty beach, wrapped in a terry cloth towel. For Marilyn, every occasion called for champagne. As it became another fixture of her image, the bubbly drink also became a metaphor for her own sparkling personality.
Known for its bubbly nature, champagne is made similarly to wine, with the exception of a second fermentation. The formation of bubbles occurs inside the bottle, explaining the wire over the top of the cork, and the thrilling “pop” it makes when champagne is opened.
Only bottles produced from the Champagne region of France can officially be called “champagne.” While other countries produce champagne, they label their product as sparkling wine. Yet, these wines can be cheaper than true champagne, and are equally as delicious.
In light of Marilyn Monroe’s 50th anniversary, we thought we’d commemorate the blonde bombshell by creating a summer champagne punch. You may choose to use Dom Perignon, but we’ve decided to use Cava, a sparkling wine from Spain, and one of Southern Spirits’ most popular items. It’s delicious and only $6.49 a bottle.
One of the best features of champagne cocktails is that they are easy to make, and the ingredients are often interchangeable. The primary ingredients typically include juice from concentrate, club soda, and fruit. More detailed recipes include triple sec, rum, even white wine. Each recipe will depend on how sweet you like your drink. A simple internet search will produce many variations of the champagne punch recipe.
One of the simplest recipes we found calls for:
- 1 can of frozen cranberry juice concentrate,
- 1 can of frozen pink lemonade concentrate,
- 1 can of frozen limeade concentrate,
- 1 bottle of white wine,
- 1 liter of club soda, and
- 2 bottles of champagne à or Cava in our case
Mix them together and wha la! A light and fruity drink for a hot summer night.
Pour it over sherbet at a family reunion; mix it with peach juice and serve Italian bellinis at your next ladies’ night. The undiscovered beauty of champagne is that it’s appropriate and affordable for many occasions. Marilyn Monroe certainly thought so.
Fifty years after her death, the world still remembers Marilyn’s favorite drink. We remember the details, even as specific as her holding a glass of Dom Perignon. But this recalling of detail is especially true in our own lives. Ice-cold lemonade was a fixture of many childhood summers. While the world may not remember what we drank, the important people will, and that’s worth toasting to.
