Meet the Mixologist: Caroyln Pascual of the Social Sipper

Long before wine cocktails, there was coffee. Carolyn was teaching yoga and exploring food styling when she landed her first big brand assignment: a Starbucks commercial built around one perfect flat white.

"We spent multiple days making that same drink over and over again," she recalls. "It was a glimpse into how much precision and care goes into every single shot."

A few years later, something shifted. By then, she'd been working as a professional food stylist for a while and sharing her food photography on Instagram. But nothing quite clicked until Carolyn and her now husband, Travis, started posting the cocktails they were making at home. The response was immediate.

"People were excited about the recipes, and I knew there was an opportunity to create something bigger," she says. Soon after, she launched The Social Sipper, blending cocktails, food styling, storytelling, and photography under one creative umbrella.

For Carolyn, a day of recipe development starts with a single spark, maybe a riff on a classic cocktail, a seasonal ingredient, or a flavor borrowed from a favorite dish. From there, she tests and tastes, inviting others to weigh in before finalizing.

"I think about the experience of the drink," she says, "from its presentation to the feeling I want you to have when you're enjoying it."

She likes to lean into a wine's tasting notes, pairing pear and ginger with a wine that carries the same flavors, or drawing on classic food pairings like brioche and honey.

Her advice for home bartenders: start with a wine you love on its own, then build from there.

Carolyn crafted her own sultry, modern take on the classic French 75 cocktail to commemorate the opening of the Art-Deco inspired Salon des Rêves at our Château.

"We took inspiration from the elegant mood of the space and wanted to create something that really made the wine shine and would pair beautifully with oysters and caviar. Once we decided on a French 75 as the inspiration, I collaborated with the team on site to test and refine the flavor and proportions of the drink. I was able to incorporate unique ingredients like juniper and lemongrass, and the result was so bright and fresh. It really highlighted the Ultra Brut, which happens to be my favorite wine. The final cocktail has such a beautiful balance of flavors that truly enhance the Ultra Brut while keeping it the star of the recipe."

It's easy to see why. A great cocktail needs a base with real backbone, and that's exactly what Ultra Brut brings to the Salon 75. Its low dosage means there's no residual sugar to compete with the other ingredients. Instead, the wine's crisp acidity and fine, persistent effervescence act as a clean canvas, letting the brightness of lemongrass and the herbal snap of juniper shine through.

The Salon 75 may be ordered à la carte at the winery, or you can make the recipe at home.

For warm weather sipping at home, Carolyn created the Watermelon Rosé Fresca. "I'm always so excited for watermelon in the summer, so I thought its freshness would pair wonderfully with the soft berry and floral notes of the Brut Rosé." Muddled together, the Brut Rosé and Watermelon Juice create a cocktail that's spritzy, fresh, and effortlessly summery.

Carolyn's tip for making this at home: serve it in a chilled coupe with a skewer of watermelon and a sprig of mint for an easy, elegant garnish.

"Elevated glassware and a thoughtful garnish go a long way," Carolyn says, pointing to edible flowers or dehydrated citrus as easy upgrades. Natural light helps too. "Whenever possible, photograph your drinks outdoors or by a large window."

She's also quick to bust a myth about her profession. "There's a misconception that everything is fake in food styling. Most of the time we use real food. It's more about choosing the perfect ingredients and using precision in how we compose a dish or a drink."

For Carolyn, a beautiful drink is a way to bring people together and celebrate, the same way her family did around the table growing up. Carolyn learned to cook alongside her parents, and so many of her earliest memories are wrapped up in food: nightly family dinners and celebrating every half-birthday with cake. It's no accident that her project is called The Social Sipper.

We hope that Caroyln has inspired you to shake up the Watermelon Rosé Fresca and pass the recipe along to someone you love. Or, order the Salon 75 à la carte at the next time you visit us at the Château.