A Bellini is a Mimosa with something to prove. Instead of tart orange juice, it pairs sweet white peach purée with sweet sparkling vino for a bubbly fruit drink that is, yes, sweet. You’ll most commonly find it on the brunch menu with a simple recipe: two parts Prosecco, one part peach. And while it's light on the booze, it goes down very easily, so watch how many times your champagne flute gets a top-off.
A Little Background
The Bellini is Italian through and through. It was created in Italy, where the white peaches grow plentifully and the Prosecco pours nonstop, all the way back in the summer of 1948. At Harry’s Bar in Venice, bar owner Giuseppe Cipriani tinkered with white peach purée and sweet Prosecco until he landed on his two-to-one ratio. His son Arrigo wrote about the cocktail’s invention in a book, and also explained its name: Giuseppe looked to 15th Century Italian Renaissance painter Giovanni Bellini, who often used a pinkish hue in his often-biblical masterpieces. That pink tint made it into the drink. These days, you can buy the Cipriani’s own take on Bellini purée base.
On a side note, Arrigo said Harry’s was frequented by writers like Ernest Hemingway, Truman Capote, and Orson Welles, and in 2001, it became an official Venetian landmark. We’re sure it’s a lovely sight sitting next to the canals, and that many an interesting conversation were had there, perhaps even over Bellinis. But Harry’s contribution to 21st Century brunch culture cannot be understated.
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The obvious sister cocktail to the Bellini is the Mimosa: brut champagne and orange juice, and you’re on your way. Really, the easiest way to make a drink like a Bellini is pick the fruit juice you like best and add sparkling wine to it. With strawberry purée, you get a Rossini; with pomegranate juice you get a Tintoretto. Other recipes substitute peach purée with peach schnapps, for extra zip. The champagne cocktail genre is rife with other options, some that’ll keep you buzzing along and some that will knock you flat. Brunch happily.
Food styling by Sean Dooley
Prop Styling by Ashley Naum
