Summer Wine CocktailsSparkling Sweet & Salty Lime Mint Cuke

This is cocktail is too delicious for words, fresh garden salad flavors with a sweet and salty twist.

The Wine: Cavicchioli 1928 Sparkling, became a delicious cocktail

The Food: Grilled vegetarian delights from Matt's Farm Market in Belmar NJ

The Place: Home after a beautiful day at Sea Girt Beach

Nothing like a nice sparkling wine cocktail after a day at the beach.

I created this with very good cucumbers, mint from our garden and stuff I had in the house.

Ingredients:

Four Cocktails

12 oz Sparkling white wine,
3 oz Limoncello
1 good sized cucumber
1 handful of fresh mint
Juice of two limes
Pink sea salt grinder
Ice

Equipment:

Blender, Pitcher, Martini Cocktail Glasses or Champagne Flutes

Recipe:

Peal and dice the cucumber, place in blender with Limoncello, lime juice and mint. Blend until smooth.

Pour into pitcher with ice, add sparkling wine and gently stir, strain into cocktail glasses or flutes. You can also serve on the rocks in a tumbler.

And here is the important finishing touch! In each glass one quick twist of sea salt from the grinder, garnish with a mint leave or cucumber slice or both and serve.

We used Cavicchioli Sparkling Malvesia but Prosecco or Cava would work. You could make this cocktail with a lemon simple syrup, but I had some homemade Limoncello so I used that for a boost of alchohol and sweetness. The cucumber has got to be good and fresh from the farmers' market. We got ours from Matt's on Route 71 in Belmar. A handful of mint was about 2 tablespoons.

Served with a deliciously simple grilled vegetarian dinner.