Bellini Recipe
A Bellini is Venice in a glass: white peach purée lifted by cold, dry Prosecco, poured at Harry's Bar since 1948. Two ingredients, one flute, and a brunch table that suddenly looks far more civilized.
Ingredients
- 2 ozwhite peach purée, chilled
- 4 ozProsecco or other dry sparkling wine, chilled
- 0.25 ozpeach liqueur (optional, for depth)
Garnish
- Fresh peach slice
- Thin lemon twist (optional)
Equipment: Champagne flute, jigger, bar spoon, chilled pitcher or mixing glass
Method
- Chill the flute in the freezer for at least 10 minutes, or fill it with ice water while you gather the ingredients.
- Spoon the chilled peach purée into the bottom of the flute, adding the peach liqueur if you want a rounder, more wine-like finish.
- Pour the cold Prosecco in slowly down the inside of the glass, letting the purée lift and swirl rather than foam over.
- Stir once, gently, with a bar spoon to marry the purée and the wine without knocking out the bubbles.
- Garnish with a thin peach slice and serve immediately, while the glass is still frosty and the fizz is at its peak.
About the Bellini
The Bellini was invented in 1948 at Harry’s Bar in Venice by Giuseppe Cipriani, who named it for the pink-gold glow of a Bellini painting by the Venetian Renaissance artist Giovanni Bellini. The original calls for white peach purée, not orange juice and not peach schnapps, and it is built in the glass rather than shaken, because shaking destroys the bubbles that make the drink worth ordering.
To nail it at home, chill everything: the flute, the purée, and the Prosecco. Use a dry Prosecco or another brut sparkling wine, since sweetness in the wine plus sweetness in the fruit turns cloying fast. Real white peach purée, which you can find frozen or jarred out of season, gives the texture and color that juice cannot. Pour slowly, stir once, and drink it within minutes.
- Chill the flute and the Prosecco thoroughly; warm sparkling wine foams wildly and goes flat fast.
- Use white peach purée rather than yellow for the authentic pale, blushing color and softer flavor.
- Skip the shaker entirely. Stirring in the glass preserves carbonation.
- For a frozen version, blend purée with ice first, then top with Prosecco at the end.
Get the bottles delivered
Order online for same-day or next-day Long Island delivery, free curbside pickup in Commack, or nationwide shipping where it is legal. You must be 21 or older.
