Hallmark Christmas – Cinema Sips

Image credit: *A Biltmore Christmas*, 2023

Time travel romance and Classic Hollywood are two surefire ways to get me interested in a story, but add a location that transports me back to a glorious summer vacation, and I’m officially hooked. I thought I couldn’t love any television holiday movie as much as I love The Spirit of Christmas, but then A Biltmore Christmas (Disc/Download) came along. At this point, it’s a tie.

Fans of the Cary Grant/Loretta Young/David Niven classic The Bishop’s Wife will probably recognize the fictional movie-within-the-movie our main character Lucy has been hired to reboot, in this case titled His Merry Wife! The lead actor in this 1940s holiday classic has Big Cary Grant Energy, and his character plays an angel sent down to earth to help his late wife find love again. Lucy doesn’t like the saccharine ending of the original film, but the studio doesn’t like the jaded tone of her new script, so they send her to the Biltmore Estate during the holiday season to find some inspiration. Once there, she tips over an hourglass and time travels to 1947, smack dab into the shooting of His Merry Wife! Masquerading as an extra, then an emissary from the studio, Lucy soon falls for actor Jack Huston (confusingly, not the Jack Huston, just… a fictional actor with the same name as a member of the Huston acting + filmmaking dynasty??). Jack doesn’t question her references to the Criterion and TCM, while Lucy’s surprisingly adept at sprinkling a few “bub”s and “old sport”s into their conversations. Unfortunately, she’s only there on a temporary Hourglass Time Travel Visa, and he’s scheduled to die in 1948. It’ll take a Christmas Miracle to work this one out!

One of the things that made my visit to North Carolina so special last summer was sampling the local products. I had the forethought to bring home a bottle of Biltmore Estate® Blanc de Noir, as well as a gin infused with rose petals grown in the Biltmore’s conservatory rose garden (from Chemist Spirits). If you’re looking to support some businesses in the hard-hit Western North Carolina region this holiday season, both companies ship! To celebrate A Biltmore Christmas, I recommend mixing up a Biltmore Sparkler.

Biltmore Sparkler

2 oz Chemist Spirits Biltmore Conservatory Rose Gin

¾ oz Lemon Juice

¾ oz Cinnamon Syrup

4 oz Biltmore Estate® Sparkling Wine

Dried lemon wheel (garnish)

Combine gin, lemon juice, and cinnamon syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into a coupe glass. Top with sparkling wine, then garnish with a dried lemon wheel.

This drink is similar to a French ’75, but the addition of cinnamon syrup makes it feel particularly festive. Like Lucy, I enjoy taking a classic and putting a new twist on it! If you’re a fan of Somewhere in Time, if you’ve ever imagined what it would be like to sing a holiday duet with Cary Grant, or even if you just enjoy a super-random appearance by Star Trek’s Jonathan Frakes, give yourself the gift of A Biltmore Christmas this year. Cheers!

Sing it with me: It’s the most…wonderful time…of the year. That’s right, I’m talking about CHRISTMAS MOVIE SEASON!!!! I’ve featured a lot of great holiday classics over the years, but now it’s time to move to the small screen. We are living in the age of the made-for-TV Christmas Movie, and Hollywood just can’t compete anymore (see: Last Christmas). Thanks to Hallmark, Lifetime, and Netflix, we’ll never have to experience this holiday without bland men in chunky sweaters, klutzy heroines, and cookie baking contests ever again. There’s literally a movie for every day of December. It was tough picking just 4 or 5 for Cinema Sips, but I suffered through a lot of research to bring you the best of the best (really, it was my husband who suffered. I loved it). Kicking things off is my personal favorite, The Spirit of Christmas (Disc/Download).

Remember what I said about bland men in chunky sweaters? Yeah, not this movie. The Spirit of Christmas features a sexxxxxxxxy bootlegger ghost haunting an inn for twelve days every December, mixing up cocktails, trimming his beard, and trying to figure out who killed him nearly a hundred years ago. Enter Kate, the big city estate attorney tasked with getting the inn appraised for sale, who comes face-to-ghost-face with hot bearded Daniel, forcing him to open both his heart and his liquor cabinet for her. This movie truly has it all: romance, cocktails, actual snow, a little murder mystery, and cheesy supernatural effects. It’s like they decided to throw all the genres together and see what happens. The plot is ludicrous, but I’ll have you know that Daniel wears GLASSES, a vest, suspenders, a shawl cardigan, and in one glorious scene, an unbuttoned shirt. And did I mention the beard?

Before his fatal death blow, Daniel made a living as a talented rum-runner in the days of Prohibition. So let’s celebrate The Spirit of Christmas with this Rum Runner cocktail!

Rum Runner

3/4 oz overproof rum

1 oz banana liqueur

1 oz Chambord

1 oz grenadine

1 1/2 oz lime juice

Combine all liquid ingredients in a shaker filled with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a hurricane glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with lime and cherry.

It may seem a little strange to be drinking a tropical tiki drink while watching a Christmas movie, but honestly, it’s not as strange as the movie itself. Case in point, Kate’s “gift” to Daniel is an old birth certificate proving that it was his baby who died shortly after birth, and not his girlfriend’s supposed lover’s. In other words, “Merry Christmas, it was YOUR dead baby.” All I can say is: it’s gonna be one wild December on Cinema Sips. Cheers!

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	Concluding thoughts… on Ocean’s 11 (1960)