13 Creative Ways To Use Up Leftover Champagne

Legend has it that the first soul to sip a glass of champagne was a monk by the name of Dom Pierre Pérignon. Apparently, he was working as a cellar master of an abbey in the region of Champagne, France, when he poured himself a glass of bubbly. Astonished by the effervescence, Pérignon is rumored to have declared, "I am drinking the stars," according to Smithsonian Magazine. While historians agree that this probably never happened, there is a nugget of truth to the story — the tiny bubbles in champagne can make us feel like we are drinking something bright and beautiful. 

The effervescence of this delicious French wine boils down to chemistry. When yeast ferments the sugar from the grapes, a chemical process occurs, creating carbon dioxide as a byproduct. This gas builds up inside the wine bottle, producing champagne's signature bubbles in addition to that famous popping sound that you get upon removing the cork. 

Unfortunately, however, once your champagne bottle has been opened, its fizziness is limited. As time goes on, your wine's carbon dioxide bubbles are released into the air, leaving your bubbly deeply un-bubbly. Once your champagne is officially flat, you might be tempted to pour it down the drain. Luckily, though, there are plenty of ways you can rescue your leftover champagne. From trying out the famous spoon trick to whipping up a batch of champagne jelly, these are some of the best uses for your surplus sparkling wine. 

It's late at night, and you've walked all your guests to the door. You head back to your kitchen and notice that you have a few open bottles of champagne. Perhaps some of them still contain at least a glass or two of wine. If you have ever thrown a party, this is probably a familiar scenario. However, rather than immediately condemning your leftover champagne to the drain pipes, you can always try the spoon trick.

Enacting the spoon trick is simple. Just grab a metallic spoon and shove it into the bottleneck so that it stays there. Of course, you must be sure not to reach for a small spoon — these will slip right through the bottleneck and get stuck in the belly of the bottle. Instead, use a medium-sized instrument that won't fall from the upper part of your bottle. Once it is in place, you should place your champagne in the refrigerator.

The reason that this trick works is that metal grows cold in refrigerated environments. By placing a metallic spoon in the neck of your champagne bottle, this upper region becomes cool. This, in turn, creates a makeshift air plug, which will prevent the bubbles of your champagne from escaping. So, if you have any leftover bubbly, just try the spoon trick. The next evening, you should be able to enjoy a cold sparkling glass of French wine sans problèmes. 

While the spoon trick works well for champagne that has not been open for very long, your mileage will vary more on bottles that have spent, say, the entire night uncorked in your kitchen. The good news is that there are still ways to resuscitate your leftover champagne. One of the best strategies is to mix it into a brunch cocktail, like sparkling sangria. To make this delicious beverage, pour your bubbly into a pitcher along with some soda and seasonal fruit. In Spain, sangria and tinto de verano are often made with a lemon-lime soda, like Sprite or 7 Up, but you can get creative, depending on the time of year, as well as your personal tastes.

Regardless of which flavor of sangria you choose, this cocktail works well for leftover champagne for two reasons. First of all — perhaps most importantly — the addition of fizzy soda helps mask the lack of effervescence in your champagne. Secondly, though, the sweeter, fruitier elements of this recipe will balance out the increased oxidation of your day-old drink. With this in mind, try not to add overly bitter fruit to your sparkling sangria. Instead, opt for fully ripe, in-season options, like pears in the winter or pineapples in spring. 

Sparkling sangria is not the only cocktail that can get a boost from your leftover champagne — an Aperol spritz can also taste great with a splash of day-old bubbly. Traditionally, this classic Italian aperitivo combines bitter Aperol with sour club soda, rich sparkling wine, and a sweet orange garnish to produce a drink that is refreshingly sharp on the tongue. These days, however, Aperol tonics are increasing in popularity, meaning that many people enjoy their spritzes without an overwhelming champagne flavor. 

Because of this, you can add your old champagne to an Aperol drink that is a bit heavier on the club soda or tonic water than it is on the sparkling wine. You can achieve this by pouring just a splash of leftover wine into each aperitivo glass. Then, to ensure that these drinks are sufficiently fizzy, go ahead and top them off with a generous serving of soda. Not only will this strategy give your cocktails the right texture, but it will also prevent them from taking on an overly-bitter flavor. After all, the soda will help round out the Aperol's sharp orange notes and give your champagne a bit of a boost.

Orange juice mimosas may be the most common brunch-time champagne drink, but that does not mean that they are always the best. If you are gearing up for an awesome autumn brunch, you might want to use your leftover champagne to make a round of apple cider mimosas. These delicious drinks not only bring all the fun fall flavors — they also do a great job of masking the unfortunate texture of a flat bottle of bubbly. Indeed, the natural effervescence of alcoholic ciders will add some fizz to your cup, compensating for everything that your leftovers lack. 

To make apple cider mimosas, mix champagne with hard cider and a generous dousing of apple pie spices. Of course, you'll want to choose a particularly sweet brand of cider, preferably Angry Orchard's Crisp Apple brew. This will allow the sugary ingredients from your cider to offset the dryness of your champagne, creating a cocktail that's a little more balanced. Sweeter ciders will also help mask the vinegary undertones that might start emerging in your day-old wine, allowing you to enjoy your leftovers without giving you a rancid mouthful of acidity. If you want to emphasize this effect, serve your mimosas in cups with a cinnamon sugar rim.

Unfortunately, there are times when your leftover champagne keeps so poorly that you can't even make a good cocktail out of it. There are also, of course, moments when we crave something a little more substantial than a fizzy cocktail. Under these circumstances, you might consider baking your day-old bubbly into a scrumptious batch of pink champagne cupcakes. These unique treats are light in flavor and pretty easy to prepare, making them the ideal way to start off your day the morning after a big party.

To make pink champagne cupcakes, all you have to do is buy a box of Betty Crocker white cake mix. Then, when you add the typical ingredients of eggs and vegetable oil, pour in a little more than a cup of sparkling wine. The reason that this recipe works so well is that your booze will add a distinctive flavor to the otherwise constant taste of vanilla cupcakes. 

The apple and pear notes from your champagne will blend perfectly with the sweet fluffy goodness of the miniature cakes, leaving you with a hint of fruitiness in every bite. The best part is that it will not matter how flat your bubbly has become — it will add its marvelous flavor to your baked treats all the same. Ultimately, this will allow you to enjoy some of the champagne's flavor without forcing you to confront its lack of texture.

If champagne cupcakes aren't strong enough for your liking, there is another way for you to repurpose your day-old drink. Reach for a bottle of leftover champagne, pour it into a bowl, and allow a handful of sugar to dissolve in the mix. This will create a soaking syrup — or a sweet, flavored liquid that you can use to enrich your baked goods. Just grab your cupcakes, muffins, or homemade brioche and dip it into this unique substance. You won't just give your treats a boost of flavor, but you will also manage to spike them, adding an interesting twist to just about any occasion. 

One of the best uses for sparkling wine soaking syrup is certainly to make this delectable champagne cake. In this recipe, you won't just pour champagne into your batter, you will also add it to a soaking syrup that can then be applied to your cake's outer layer using a brush. 

Ultimately, this unique strategy will ensure that the interior of your cake carries the light fruity alcoholic flavor of the champagne, all while applying an extra burst of boozy sweetness to the crusts. Thanks to the sugars in the syrup and the cake, it will be impossible to taste any vinegar notes. This means that folks who want to savor the boozier element of this recipe will be able to enjoy the wine's heavier flavors without experiencing the full bitter blast of the champagne's deteriorated state. 

If you can't have fresh mimosas at brunch, don't worry. Your leftovers can contribute to your favorite boozy orange combination of flavors — even if your leftover champagne has gone flat. By making a batch of mimosa cookies, you can enjoy the taste of champagne and orange juice without worrying too much about the effervescence of your day-old wine. The best part is that the alcohol will inevitably burn out of these treats, making them an acceptable snack for occasions such as Dry January. 

To make mimosa cookies, start out by making the classic blend of butter, eggs, and sugar. Then, instead of moving ahead to fold in your dry ingredients, throw in a small cup of champagne. Rather than drowning out the sweet flavors in your cookies, this dry boozy ingredient will accentuate them, allowing you to experience a full sugary blast. This slight contrast between the tart day-old wine and the rich sugar will become even more apparent with the addition of orange zest — a bittersweet ingredient that can up the complexity of just about any baked treat. Tart, sweet, and zesty, these cookies will leave you with all the best parts of mimosas minus the alcohol.

Just because your champagne went flat does not mean that it cannot still make a fun, boozy treat. By freezing your leftovers into a granita, along with water, sugar, and fruit, you can rescue much of your champagne's original flavor without having to sip a lifeless cup of bubbly. The result will be something similar to a bowl of shaved ice, except with an adult twist.

To make a champagne granita, start out by taking simple syrup and blending it with a dash of amaretto and some seasonal fruit. During summertime, you should definitely consider adding peaches, as this fruit is both succulent and tangy, providing the perfect contrast to your stronger amaretto and champagne flavors. However, depending on what time of year you make this recipe, you can substitute the peaches for any number of other fruits, such as pears, strawberries, or even pineapple. 

Once you have mixed these main ingredients together, pour in your leftover champagne. Then, freeze the mixture in a flat pan overnight. You will wake up the following morning to a light, snow-like substance that combines the mild bitterness of amaretto with the dry fruitiness of the champagne, only to be rounded out by the tart sweetness of your fruit. All in all, this creation is the ultimate dessert — sweet and complex with a definite kick. 

Luckily, a granita isn't the only way to cool down your champagne — you can also use it to make boozy ice cubes. Pour your leftover champagne into some ice cube molds, along with any sort of flavoring that you want. Raspberries taste particularly good combined with sparkling wine, as the sweet bitterness of the fruit offsets the acidity of the drink. That being said, feel free to add other flavors like mint, strawberries, or even rosemary to your ice cubes, depending on how sweet or savory you want the final product to be.

Once your ice cubes are ready, pop them into a cup of juice or sparkling water for a light yet boozy treat. To give your guests something to remember, serve your ice cubes in a glass and then pour some mixer over them. This strategy gives your cocktails a fun presentation, all while allowing every partygoer to decide just how much mixer they want. Of course, this recipe works best with sodas, sparkling waters, and ciders, as these ingredients will give your drink the fizzy touch that your champagne probably lacks.

To give your berries a bit of a kick, try soaking them in your leftover champagne. Simply throw your fruit into a bowl and pour your sparkling wine over the top so that it just covers all of the berries. Then, you can wait for a couple of hours until each of your berries has grown large from the absorption of the booze. The result will be an extra juicy piece of fruit that is bursting with the acidic flavors of your wine, creating a bite-sized delicacy that's simultaneously bitter, sweet, and tart. 

While these champagne-filled berries will certainly taste scrumptious on their own, you can use them as a garnish. Place them on top of your chocolate cupcakes and dole them out to your friends and family. In this spectacular combination, the infused berries won't just add a burst of color to your brown cupcakes, but they will also elevate the overall flavor. Rather than just biting into the same old sweet cake, your guests will experience the contrast between the refreshing berries and the rich chocolatey dough. This will complicate the overall flavor of the dessert, making it more exciting for the palate. 

Leftover champagne may taste great in a dessert, but that doesn't mean you can't add it to something savory. If you have a bunch of day-old sparkling wine and not much of a sweet tooth, don't worry. You can use your leftovers to make a delicious champagne vinaigrette. 

To bring this dressing to fruition, all you need is some olive oil, some champagne, and an emulsifier or an ingredient to prevent your oil and wine from separating. If you are looking for a smooth yet savory dressing, a little bit of mayonnaise should do the trick. However, if you are a fan of spicier flavors, you might want to reach for the Dijon mustard. Either way, all you have to do is mix one part champagne with two parts oil and a dash of your favorite emulsifier. 

This combination of ingredients will give you a dressing that combines the acidic tanginess of your day-old wine with the fatty smoothness of the oil to give you a balanced flavor. In terms of texture, the creaminess of the mayo will give your dressing a whipped smoothness that will complement just about any salad. 

It's no secret that wine tastes great with seafood. In fact, the two flavors combine so well that many chefs use this savory liquid to prepare their shellfish — especially when it comes to preparing mussels. While steamed mussels with white wine, however, do taste wonderful, there is a different type of liquid you can use to infuse flavor into your favorite mollusk: leftover champagne. 

Simply add some mussels to a pan on high heat, pour some sparkling wine on top, and add the lid to keep the steam inside. This will create a hot, wine-infused vapor that will force your mollusks to open and fill their flesh with an acidic yet sweet taste. This unique flavor will accentuate the briny, oceanic components of your shellfish rather than masking it. Although the typical choices of pinot grigio or albariño will still complement your mussels, champagne provides a slightly more delicate flavor. Ultimately, this elegant addition to your cooking will make your mussels' natural saltiness shine rather than overwhelming it.

Although not quite as well known as strawberry jelly, champagne jelly can be a delicious addition to your cheese courses. This sweet yet tangy substance brings all of the fermented grape flavors normally exclusive to wines directly onto your cheese plate. This apple and pear-flavored jelly take on a rich yet sugary flavor when combined with a delicacy, like soft buttery brie. This will leave you with a fatty yet fruity spread that is both creamy and light. 

The best part is that champagne jelly, while very sophisticated, is not too difficult to prepare. Simply pour your leftover champagne into a pan, along with some sugar, to create a sweet wine-infused sauce. Then, mix in a combination of warm water in gelatin. Together, these four key ingredients will create a thick jelly full of champagne's delicate notes. This will give you the ideal way to enjoy sparkling wine and cheese — even if the vino is day-old.