WINE & SPIRITS

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Amari, when mixed, are perfectly poised to take advantage of the ongoing classic cocktail revival. Campari, for example, is the basis for the old-fashioned Negroni (mixed with gin and sweet vermouth), a favorite among the cocktail archeologists behind venerable Manhattan watering holes like Employees Only, Milk & Honey, the Flatiron Lounge and the Pegu Club. Gin is Campari's original dance partner, but the spirit works just as well as a foil for vodka and even dark spirits, too.

While I gravitate towards bitter spirits most of all in the fall, any regular reader of this column knows of my year-round weakness for Champagne. And, as temperatures fall, I like my bubbly mixed into drinks. Even more than bitter cocktails, Champagne cocktails are at the heart of the revivalist trend, as I learned during a recent Moet & Chandon seminar held at East Village hideaway Death & Co. There, co-owner David Kaplan and his mixology team demonstrated both old-timer drinks and new variations. First up was the French 75, a WWI-era cocktail named for a piece of French artillery. The version we tasted was made with Plymouth gin, lemon juice, Champagne and sugar. The Bitter French that followed is a riff on the original made with a quarter ounce of Campari. The barman followed up with a so-called Champagne Sorbet, based on a century-old idea with a literal scoop of sorbet afloat in the glass.

"A Champagne cocktail is the easiest thing to make at home," said Kaplan. "Add a dash of St. Germain or Cognac and you already have a refreshing drink." He pulled a rare bottle of Creme Yvette from behind the bar. The violet-flavored liqueur was added to sweet Moet Nectar Champagne to create a fine instant cocktail.

The final drink of the evening was the most complex and perhaps the oldest: a classic Champagne punch. "I have Jerry Thomas' A Bartender's Guide, published in 1862," said Kaplan. "One of the first drinks you'll find listed is punch. The original punch was based on five elements: sweet, sour, bitter, strong and water. Later recipes replaced water with Champagne." The punch, once pieced together, was ladled into cups from an antique glass punch bowl. It went down silky smooth, though packed an insidious hidden punch.

Whether your poison is bitter or bubbly (or both), you can find autumn salvation in a revivalist drink. When the weather turns truly frigid, you'll turn over your wardrobe again—and your drinking repertoire, too. For New Year's, you'll pop open the vintage Champagne. To get through January and February until the spring thaw, there'll be big important red wines, Sauternes and Cognac. And then it'll be time, once again, to mix up a pitcher of mojitos, or maybe an Aperol Sprizz.