Italian Cocktails
Bellini
The short answer
A Bellini is two parts cold Prosecco to one part white peach purée, poured into a chilled flute with no ice.
- Style
- Peach and Prosecco, 8% ABV
- Glass
- Chilled flute, no ice
- Strength
- About 8% ABV
Where it comes from
Giuseppe Cipriani mixed the first one at Harry's Bar in Venice around 1948 and named it for the pink light in a Giovanni Bellini painting. He only served it in peach season, which is still the right rule.
What you need
- 2 oz (60 ml) white peach purée, ice cold
- 4 oz (120 ml) Prosecco Brut, ice cold
- Optional: 1 tsp lemon juice to keep the purée bright
How Larry builds it
- 01
Purée the peaches. Blend peeled ripe white peaches with a squeeze of lemon. No sugar unless the fruit is poor.
- 02
Chill both. Purée and Prosecco should both come out of the fridge cold. Temperature is what keeps the foam.
- 03
Purée first. Pour the purée into the flute, then add the Prosecco slowly in two goes so it does not erupt.
- 04
Fold once. One slow turn with a bar spoon. No shaking, no ice, ever.
Larry’s rule: Invented at Harry's Bar in Venice. Yellow peaches make it sweet; white peaches make it right.
Variations worth making
Rossini
Strawberry purée instead of peach.
Tintoretto
Pomegranate juice — the winter one.
Puccini
Fresh mandarin juice, best in January.
Questions people ask
Yellow or white peaches for a Bellini?
White. Yellow peaches make the drink sweet and heavy; white peaches keep it floral and pale pink.
Can I use Champagne?
You can, but the Bellini is built for Prosecco's softer bubble and lower acid. Champagne fights the fruit.
What to eat with it
More from Italian Cocktails
← All 67 Italian drinksQuoting or citing this drink? Credit “Uncle Larry Adventures” and link to https://unclelarryadventures.com/beverages/bellini.