Miracle on 34th Street – Christmas Movie Cocktails

The 1947 movie, Miracle on 34th Street was such a success, that they decided to make it again, in fact, after the initial film, they produced three television adaptations in 1955, 1959, and 1973, and then the official 1994 remake version, that’s not counting the Broadway Musical version titled ‘Here’s Love’ that opened in 1963.

The first Miracle on 34th Street was written and directed by George Seaton and based on a story by Valentine Davies, with the film starring Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn.

The events of the story take place between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day in New York City and focus on the effect that a department store Santa Claus, who claims to be the real Santa, has on the world, a little girl and her family, giving them all, something to believe in.

Miracle on 34th Street won three Academy Awards: Gwenn for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Valentine Davies for Best Writing, Original Story, and George Seaton for Best Writing, Screenplay.

The film was also selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant”. The Academy Film Archive preserved Miracle on 34th Street in 2009.

It didn’t just feature on the big screen, home screen and on stage – a one-hour radio adaptation of the movie was aired on three occasions by the Luc Radio Theatre, with the first one being on December 22nd, 1947, starring the full original cast.

The film’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade sequence in New York was actually filmed live while the 1946 parade was happening. “It was a mad scramble to get all the shots we needed, and we got to do each scene only once,” Maureen O’Hara wrote in her memoir.

Although the film was set during the Christmas season, studio head, Darryl F. Zanuck insisted that it be released in the warmer month of May, with the movie then being set to release on the 6th of May 1947, he argued that more people would go to the movies in warmer weather, so the studio had to rush to remove too many indications to the films Christmas theme, trying to keep that aspect a secret.

So the trailer that Twenty Century Fox came up with was outstanding, well ahead of its time, it showed almost none of the movie, only a short clip of the beginning and the end, instead, it had a fictional producer unapproving of the movie trailer because it didn’t let the audience know what the movie was about, he would then leave and start walking through the studio backlot, encountering such stars as Rex Harrison, Anne Baxter, Peggy Ann Garner, and Dick Haymes, who spoke so highly of the film, that it caused the producer to then… you know what… you should just watch the trailer for yourself…

The popular 1994 theatrical remake of the film, released on the 18th of November, (much closer to Christmas) was co-written and co-produced by John Hughes and directed by Les Mayfield. The film stars Richard Attenborough, Mara Wilson, Elizabeth Perkins and Dylan McDermott.

Interestingly, the New York City based Macy’s department store declined any involvement with this remake of the film, saying “we feel the original stands on its own and could not be improved upon.” So the film had to create a fictitious replacement, which ended up beings “Cole’s”, and as Gimbels had gone out of business in 1987, they had to also remake that with the fictional “Shopper’s Express”.

The film made $17,320,136 in North America and $46,264,384 worldwide at the box office.

The Argentinian Sparkling Wine – Jasmine Monet

Jasmine Monet is convinced that the terroir on which the grapes are grown determines the personality and mood of a good Sparkling Wine, that’s why they’ve chosen several vineyards from the Gualtallary and Valle de Uco areas, they found the soil and climate to be perfect for the production of their Sparkling Wines.

With a great passion for respecting the environment, being sustainable and working for the future, they protect their terroir to ensure that in generations to come, it can still produce the quality levels we get to taste today.

Jasmine Monet – Organic Blanc de Blancs – Tasting Notes

Aroma – “Soft, delicate green fruits and white floral, very smooth and relaxing, easy to take in on the aroma,”

Flavour – “Succulent honeysuckle, white floral notes, apple blossom, green apples and green pears, easy to enjoy, delivering easy to rejoice flavours.”

Silver Medal Winner in the First Date Category at the Glass of Bubbly Awards 2022

The Gin – Nordés

Picture this, a Gin company coming to life through a group of friends enjoying a dish of octopus – that’s how the story of Nordés, Galicia’s very own gin, began.

Located in Spain, the friends started crafting their gin to share with the many gin lovers of the world, they used local ingredients from the area and, after some trial and error, they came across the perfect combination, capturing, in their words “the essence of Galicia”.

Nordés Gin – Tasting Notes – “Aromatic and nicely balanced, with notes of ginger, juniper, subtle citrus, mint and sage, with some lovely salty sea air.”

The white and blue bottle design was inspired by traditional porcelain products made by hand in Sargadelos, Galicia and the name Nordés was named after the wind that heralds the arrival of fine weather in Galicia.

The Cocktail – The Christmas Spirit Cocktail

Ingredients

• Sparkling Wine
• Gin
• Dianthus Edible Flowers (Fine Food Specialist)
• Cornflower Edible Flowers
• Ginger Syrup
• Ice Cream
• Squirty Cream
• Red Food Colouring

How To Make The Christmas Spirit Cocktail

• A Scoop of Ice Cream
• 15mls of Gin
• 5mls of Ginger Syrup
• 5mls of Cherry Syrup
• Top up with Sparkling Wine
• Squirty Cream on Top
• Add Some Red Food Colouring

The Christmas Spirit Cocktail Tasting Notes 

Aroma – “The floral notes and the red food colouring inquire for domination with a creamy background on the aroma.”

Flavour – “Chilled, soft, smooth, sweet, creamy vanilla ice cream, topped with squirty cream, glorious ginger syrup and cherries emerge victorious, never forgetting the vanilla character, with light floral notes from the Sparkling Wine and a hint of smooth winter juniper berry to round it all off, the vanilla ice cream character is consistent all the way through, never wavering on its authenticity.”

Merry Christmas Everyone

With Love From Glass of Bubbly