Provence Spritz: BEAU VIVA and Gabriele Armani Mocktail Recipe
There’s a good reason why people come from all over the world to experience summertime in Provence. Rolling green hills become painted purple like a master artist had been hard at work with his palette all spring. As summer stretches on, those famous fields of lavender become joined by fields of sunflowers, welcoming in the long, golden days.
And yet, the people who take the journey to Provence in summer know that it’s a true feast for the senses beyond what any photograph could convey. While the cicadas hum, the purple fields emit a lavender scent that triggers a sense of relaxation in everyone they encounter. Or perhaps that relaxation comes from the summer sun warming the skin and making every muscle feel looser.
Lavender isn’t the only scent in the air in Provence in summer. Hillsides become an aromatic wonderland, with thyme, sage, and rosemary eliciting scents that make your mouth water as you imagine how each herb will be turned into a summer feast. The mix of delicate florals and aromatic herbs turns Provence into an unexpected garden in paradise.
It is this summer symphony for the senses that inspired Gabriele Armani, BEAU VIVA’s first brand ambassador and one of the world’s most sought-after mixologists, when he created four non-alcoholic cocktails using BEAU VIVA’s zero-alcoholic sparkling rosé, like the Provence Spritz, a garden in a glass.
How to Make Gabriele Armani and BEAU VIVA’s Provence Spritz
Inspired by the classic cocktail, the Hugo Spritz, the Provence Spritz teaches us to expect the unexpected, just as we must when we spend an evening strolling the Provence countryside. You never know what herb’s scent will drift through the air in the summer breeze or which wildflowers you’ll stumble across.
We can’t all go to Provence, so Armani created a mocktail that’s meant to transport the drinker to a summer evening in the South of France, using a mix of herbs, unexpected surprises, and BEAU VIVA’s non-alcoholic sparkling wine.
To start, stir together 1 teaspoon of orange marmalade, 10 mL of elderflower liqueur, and 50 mL of aromatic herb cordial until the orange marmalade is well combined. Add ice. Then, top with 80 mL of BEAU VIVA’s non-alcoholic sparkling wine, and garnish with edible flowers.
Why We Embrace Alcohol-Free Mocktails Like the Provence Spritz
Imagine preparing for a concert to see your favorite performer. You ready yourself for an eventful evening, one you won’t ever forget. Then, just before the show begins, you put on headphones.
Perhaps not noise-canceling, but every sound is muffled too much, making it impossible to make out words and sounds. Voices, melodies, the cheers of your fellow concertgoers, all quieted, all dampened. Goosebumps don’t prickle on your arms when you hear your favorite song like you thought they would. We often forget how interconnected our body is. Take away sensations and the joy they used to bring you, and we feel less in our bodies. And as a whole, we experience less.
Alcohol, by its very nature, is a sensory-dampener. Beyond the concern for a night filled with gaps in our memory that strip us of the future joy of reminiscing, even the lived experience itself is worsened by the effects of alcohol. Just as the headphones may dampen our ability to hear our loved ones or our favorite performer, alcohol lessens our senses. We become numb, often without even realizing it. Until the next morning, when we realize that, not only can we not fully recall the night before, but we are numb to it.
Imagine spending an evening in the South of France, only to wake up the next morning and realize that you cannot recall how the lavender smelled. You cannot remember the taste of the fresh-grown herbs on your tongue for the dinner you spent amongst new and old friends. You cannot hear the stories they told in your head anymore. The alcohol is not just keeping you from remembering. On that evening, it stood directly in the way of you being present in the moment enough to hold onto something that could have been so special.
The movement toward more evenings with less alcohol is a movement toward being in the moment again. It’s a movement we hold dear in Provence, though, to us, it’s beyond a movement. It’s a way of life. We cherish the beauty outside our windows, the camaraderie of the strangers and friends we meet each day, and the bouquet and banquet of herbs and florals that decorate our countryside.
This way of life is what guided the creation of BEAU VIVA, and it’s what made Armani excited to create a mocktail that truly embodied Provence and allowed him to share a piece of Provence with the world.
Discover BEAU VIVA and learn why it’s the perfect partner to a memorable night.
