This was a pretty big Christmas for me as it was my first Christmas holiday where I was not celebrating in Chicago with my family including my parents and my older sister. Although, I was very excited to enjoy my first Christmas celebration on the West Coast in Seattle with my sister Lise, her husband Andy, and my nieces Amelia and Libby. And, I had my work cut out for me as I am the wino of the family, so naturally the questions came to me asking what wine we’d be enjoying with our Christmas dinner…. Timing really is everything as Cupcake Vineyards just shared with me its incredible Sparkling Red wine which after tasting I decided was the perfect wine to kick off our Christmas dinner.  Although I was  not home in San Francisco for Christmas, my house was still decorated with a gorgeous Christmas Tree and other fun festive decor, setting the perfect scene for some holiday entertaining and fun.  I also was thrilled to see how beautiful the Cupcake Vineyards Sparkling Red wine was matching my existing holiday decorations to a T!  Get some inspiration for fun hosting and entertaining below and see all the little touches that goes into creating a lovely table decor pairing yummy food and delicious wines, in this case, Cupcake Vineyards Sparkling Red wine.

The table is set, it’s almost time for some sparkling wine!

Although I don’t host often enough, when I do, I love to get into the table setting including festival holiday plates and glassware. You can imagine my excitement when I saw how beautiful this Cupcake Vineyards Sparkling Red wine bottle looked with my place settings and holiday decor. What a match made in heaven!

If you’re wondering what the adorable little ornaments are that I used to decorate the table, I found them at Restoration Hardware, and they’re a part of the vintage ornaments collection (found here). They’re great not only as ornaments, but to decorate tables with and also within evergreens (aka a table scape) with a pop of red ribbon.

I always get excited when I’m opening sparkling for the loud, yet fun pop of the cork. It really marks the beginning of a party!

Look at the beautiful deep red color. It really is so pretty in the glass and also quite tasty. I would describe this Sparkling Red as something pretty agreeable and easy for most wine drinkers to enjoy and appreciate.

As someone who typically enjoys a very light, pink colored Rosé, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with the darker red Cupcake Vineyards Sparkling Red. After chilling it, I tried a glass and was surprised by how much I liked it. It really has a light flavor to it with aromas of black cherry, florals and nutmeg. I also enjoyed the dark fruit taste, with strawberry and cherry notes. This is a sparkling wine that is lovely on it’s own, but I would also recommend it with some cheeses as a perfect pairing.

Sponsored Content – ©2016 Cupcake Vineyards, Livermore, CA. This was a post that I collaborated on with Cupcake Vineyards. However, all opinions expressed are my own, and I only write about products I proudly enjoy and endorse whether they are sponsored posts or not. Thanks to Cupcake Vineyards for the partnership and the delicious sparkling wine.