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

  1. 01

    Purée the peaches. Blend peeled ripe white peaches with a squeeze of lemon. No sugar unless the fruit is poor.

  2. 02

    Chill both. Purée and Prosecco should both come out of the fridge cold. Temperature is what keeps the foam.

  3. 03

    Purée first. Pour the purée into the flute, then add the Prosecco slowly in two goes so it does not erupt.

  4. 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

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Quoting or citing this drink? Credit “Uncle Larry Adventures” and link to https://unclelarryadventures.com/beverages/bellini.

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