I’m guilty of it, too.

You have that bottle of bubbly in the house, thinking bubbly should be reserved for special occasions. So, it sits. And sits.

The Swirl Girls collectively are guilty, as well. We have a plethora of sparkling wine sent to us for review lying in our storage drawers, waiting for us to come up with a clever story idea for which to drink them. Let’s slay that silly notion once and for all, and just admit that any day and any reason is good enough to pop that pressurized cork.

With friends always eager to gather in each other’s company, and one soon leaving us for a summer stay up north, I found a humble reason plenty worthy. I plundered the wine stash and absconded with sparkling riches from four different countries and with varying levels of sweetness. We would send Holly off from the oppressive heat with chilled effervescence in a celebration of friends. All I asked of everyone was to lend me their palate and bring any dish they’d like to make. My part was to create a couple of appetizers to pair specifically with the sparklers.

And boy, did the evening sparkle.

An easygoing start

We kicked off our party with the Avissi Prosecco ($11.99 online), an extra-dry sparkling wine. It’s made from 100 percent prosecco grapes in Italy’s Veneto region. The first thing someone in our crowd noticed was there weren’t many bubbles, and they were fairly small. It was light on the palate and not complex in taste by any means.

In fact, someone else thought it tasted like citrus water with bubbles. Grapefruit was present on the palate and it wasn’t bone-dry, so we agreed it would appeal to those who didn’t typically like overly dry and acidic sparkling wine. It was easygoing and friendly — much like the group that gathered to drink it.

Moving up the ladder in body, we next tasted a 2009 Gérard Bertrand Cremant de Limoux Rosé ($15.99 online), a brut sparkling rosé from southern France. It was dazzling in the glass, with a pale peach color. Made from 70 percent chardonnay, 20 percent chenin blanc and 10 percent pinot noir, it was richer on both the nose and palate. The aroma included peach, strawberry and a bit of yeast, yet the wine smelled more fruity than it tasted. It was more complex and mineral than the prosecco. This was an elegant wine to sip on its own, but it also provided a heartier structure for food pairing.

Camembert, pecorino

With a casual evening in mind, I wanted to keep my pairing appetizers simple but also wanted to test new recipes. So I turned to everybody’s favorite effortless match: cheese. I decided to try both a soft, creamy cheese and a hard, aged cheese. Both were dolled up deliciously with fruit, and both were magical matches, in different ways, for the dry and sweet wines on the table.

Using what’s considered a classic match for Champagne — double and triple cream cheese — I pulled a recipe from my file I had clipped long ago: apricot-glazed baked Camembert.

The rich cheese coats the mouth, and the bubbles and subtle fruit of the sparkling wine cut through the creaminess to refresh the palate. The additional fruit flavors in the apricot preserve complemented the varying notes of peach and honey in the different wines, as well as stood up to the acidity.

The “find” of the night in food was found in the fried pecorino with stone-fruit salsa. When the aged cheese is fried, it crisps rather than melts. What become crunchy, very salty wafers are in delicious harmony with the sweet, refreshing peach and nectarine salsa. The sweet sparkling wine only enhanced that intriguing mix, and the acidity in the drier wines partnered fine, too.

The Trapiche Extra Brut ($11.99 online) sparkling wine from Argentina is a blend of 70 percent chardonnay, 20 percent sémillon and 10 percent malbec. It had the fullest body and some yeast on the palate, thanks to prolonged contact with the lees (spent yeast) during aging. Some apple and tangy citrus were present, as well. For most of us, this one proved to be better with food.

Last on our “tour du sparkle” was the sweet Opera Prima Moscato ($5.99 online.) This Spanish sparkling wine smelled of honeysuckle and overripe peaches, and tasted of summer-ripened, juicy stone fruits and honey. Although super-sweet, it still felt light on the palate, not syrupy.

Bottles empty and bellies full, we sent Holly off for the summer. And we promised that even though her return would certainly be special, we would pop open more bubbly to celebrate it anyway.

When you heat aged pecorino in a frying pan, it crisps rather than melts.

Fried Pecorino with Stone-Fruit Salsa

Serves: 6 to 8

1 peach, halved, pitted, and finely chopped

2 nectarines, halved, pitted, and finely chopped

2 tablespoons thinly sliced red onion

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1/4 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

1/2 pound pecorino cheese, cut into slices about 1/8 inch thick

To make the salsa, in a bowl, combine the peach, nectarines, red onion, and red pepper flakes. Add the lime juice and 1/4 teaspoon salt and toss gently with wooden spoon. Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt, if needed. Set the salsa aside.

Heat a dry nonstick frying pan over medium heat. When it is hot, reduce the heat to low. Place the slices of cheese in the pan, being careful not to crowd the slices. When the edges of a slice are golden, flip it and cook the other side until the bottom is golden, 2- 3 minutes longer, then transfer to a serving platter.

Serve the fried cheese slices at once, topped with the salsa.

Recipe from Williams-Sonoma’s Cheese, by Georgeanne Brennan.

Apricot-Glazed Baked Camembert

Serves: 6 to 8

1 8-oz. wheel Camembert

1 teaspoon olive oil

3 tablespoons finely chopped onions

1/3 cup apricot preserves

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon red wine vinegar

2 tart apples

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup slivered almonds

Arrange a rack at center position and preheat oven to 350°. Line baking sheet with foil and place Camembert in center of baking sheet.

Heat olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until softened, about 2 minutes.

Remove pan from the heat. Add apricot preserves and stir until preserves are melted. Add mustard and vinegar, and continue to stir until well-combined.

Let cool for 5 minutes. Spoon apricot mixture on top of cheese and spread evenly.

Refrigerate, uncovered, on the prepared baking sheet for 30 minutes.

Halve and core, but do not peel, the apples. Cut each into 1/4-inch-thick wedges and toss in the lemon juice. Set aside.

Remove the cheese from the refrigerator and press the slivered almonds on top of the mixture. Bake the cheese until warm and just softened when you touch the sides, about 8 minutes.

Watch carefully so the cheese does not split and the almonds do not burn. Remove from oven. Cool for 3-4 minutes.

To serve, lift the cheese on the foil to a serving plate. Cut or tear away the excess foil. Garnish the cheese with the apple wedges.

Recipe from Palm Beach Post files.