4 August

National White Wine Day

Spritzer

So we are drinking a...

Spritzer

The word "National" in the title of this celebratory day is key. This is a day to, if possible, not just enjoy white wine but to celebrate your own nation's white wine.

Like most similar celebratory days, National White Wine Day originated in America as a celebration of Californian wine with the first vineyards established there in the 1850s. But when it comes to ideas for civilised fun, including drinking chilled white wine in the summer, we have to thank the industrious Romans, so perhaps a glass of soave is in order. Or even more fittingly, a Vie di Romans 'Flors di Uis', an excellent blend from Friuli in northeastern Italy.

To be brutally honest, here in Blighty, our own white wines weren't particularly worthy of celebration but how this has changed in recent years with English wines winning awards at international competitions and land being snapped up in the southeast to plant new vineyards.

So grab a bottle of the best and most local white wine you can find and perhaps make a simple Spritzer or try in wine of these white wine-based cocktails.

It's also Champagne's birthday (allegedly)

"Come quickly, I am drinking the stars!" the Benedictine monk Dom Pérignon allegedly exclaimed when, on the suspiciously precise date of 4th August 1693, he supposedly invented sparkling champagne at his abbey in Hautvillers, France.

It's true that the Dom was an outstanding winemaker, who pioneered a number of champagne innovations, from corks and thicker glass to the successful use of red grapes. Yet sparkling wine would not become the dominant style until long after his death, and some historians suggest it was actually invented and certainly first bottled by the British. That said, Dom Pérignon is a chap who merits celebration, so we are toasting him with a Strawberry on Acid, a strawberry fizz concoction made infinitely more interesting by adding balsamic vinegar and black pepper.

It's also the Cultured Beef Burger's birthday

This day in 2014, the world's most expensive hamburger made its debut. And no, it wasn't some wagyu, black truffle and gold leaf nonsense constructed by a five-star hotel's PR department.

The Cultured Beef Burger was grown in a laboratory at Maastrict University at a cost of $330,000, provided by Mr Google, Sergei Brin, the burger had been crafted from stem cells taken from a cow, and transformed into muscle meat - a technique that might, one day, help relieve starvation the world over.

We reckon it will be a LONG time before anyone effectively simulates bacon, so we're toasting the might of the crispy, streaky breakfast wonder with a Benton's Old-Fashioned. Created by PDT's Don Lee, the smoky bacon wash does wonders for the bourbon.

It's also Obama's birthday

The former President of the USA celebrates his birthday today. Born in Hawaii - despite what conspiracy theorists would have you believe - to a Kenyan father and an American mother, Barack Obama's rise has been extraordinary.

A multi-talented chap, the president makes millions of dollars from his books each year, can benchpress an impressive 200 pounds, speaks Spanish and Indonesian, plays basketball well, and once edited the prestigious Harvard Law Review.

As yet we don't have an Obama Cocktail on our database (there's an opportunity!) so we are taking inspiration from Franklin D. Roosevelt, the only American president elected for more than two terms. So, we're toasting Barack Obama's birthday with a Roosevelt Cocktail.

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