Bellini (cocktail)

A Bellini is a cocktail made with Prosecco and peach purée or nectar. It originated in Venice, Italy.

Bellini
IBA official cocktail
Bellini Cipriani
TypeWine cocktail
Base spirit
  • Prosecco
ServedStraight up: chilled, without ice
Standard drinkware
Champagne flute
IBA specified
ingredients†
PreparationPour peach purée into chilled glass, add sparkling wine. Stir gently.
NotesTraditionally a Bellini uses white peaches for the fruit.
† Bellini recipe at International Bartenders Association

History

The Bellini was invented sometime between 1934 and 1948[1][2][3] by Giuseppe Cipriani, founder of Harry's Bar in Venice, Italy. He named the drink the Bellini because its unique pink color reminded him of the toga of a saint in a painting by 15th-century Venetian artist Giovanni Bellini.[4]

The drink started as a seasonal specialty at Harry's Bar.[4] Later, it also became popular at the bar's New York counterpart. After an entrepreneurial Frenchman set up a business to ship fresh white peach purée to both locations, it became a year-round favorite.[1]

The Bellini is an IBA Official Cocktail. They also suggest a Puccini, replacing the peach purée with an equal amount of mandarin juice; a Rossini, which uses strawberry purée; or a Tintoretto, which is made with pomegranate juice.

Preparation and serving

The Bellini consists of puréed white peaches and Prosecco, an Italian sparkling wine. Marinating fresh peaches in wine is an Italian tradition.[1] The original recipe was made with a bit of raspberry or cherry juice to give the drink a pink glow.[3] Due in part to the limited availability of both white peaches and Prosecco, several variations exist.

California produces a white peach that works well,[5] and yellow peaches or peach nectar can be substituted, especially if peaches are out of season and the flavor would be very bland. Other fruits or even flavoured liqueurs (peach schnapps, for example) are sometimes substituted for the peach purée.

The Cipriani family produces Bellini Base for the signature cocktail of the Harry's Bar restaurants.[6]

Other sparkling wines are commonly used in place of Prosecco, though richly flavored French champagne does not pair well with the light, fruity flavor of the Bellini. For a non-alcoholic version, sparkling juice or seltzer is used in place of the wine.[7]

Similar cocktails

The Cuban Adalor cocktail is a drink calling for fresh peach smashed with a fork and topped with Champagne. It was published in a Cuban drink guide book in 1927.[8] The Adalor cup is a similar punch drink made with "melocoton" from the 1930 book Manual Oficial of the Club De Cantineros from Cuba.[9] Melocoton is a peach grafted on a quince rootstock.

See also

References
  1. "3000 Drinks > Bellini". ThatsTheSpirit.com. n.d. Archived from the original on July 23, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  2. Jo' Pratt. Food – Recipes – Bellini cocktail. Undated. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  3. Bellini Cocktail Recipe Archived 2009-08-04 at the Wayback Machine. Undated. GourmetSleuth.com. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  4. Sicard, Cheri. Featured Cocktail – Bellini Archived February 18, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Undated. Fabulous Foods. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  5. Featured Recipe: Peach Bellini Cocktail or Mocktail. Undated. Freshipes. California Tree Fruit Agreement. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  6. "Civilization in a Glass". NewYorkFirst.com. Archived from the original on April 19, 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  7. Chiarello, Michael. Bellini Cocktail Archived 2007-01-26 at the Wayback Machine, from the "Lazy Breakfast in Bed" episode of Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello. Scripps Networks, Inc. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  8. "Cuba's Overlooked Role in Cocktail History". punchdrink.com. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  9. MANUAL OFICIAL. 1930. p. 76.
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