Bellini (cocktail)
| IBA Official Cocktail | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Bellini Cipriani | |
| Type | Wine cocktail |
| Primary alcohol by volume |
|
| Served | Straight up; without ice |
| Standard drinkware |
 |
| IBA specified ingredients* | |
| Preparation | Pour peach purée into chilled flute, add sparkling wine. Stir gently. |
| Notes | Traditionally a Bellini uses white peaches for the fruit. |
| * Bellini recipe at International Bartenders Association | |
A Bellini cocktail is a mixture of Prosecco sparkling wine and peach purée or nectar. This cocktail originated in Venice, Italy.
The Bellini was invented sometime between 1934 and 1948 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.
The drink started as a seasonal specialty at Harry's Bar, a favorite haunt of Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis and Orson Welles. 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.
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.
The Bellini consists of puréed white peaches and Prosecco, an Italian sparkling wine. Marinating fresh peaches in wine is an Italian tradition. The original recipe was made with a bit of raspberry or cherry juice to give the drink a pink glow. Due, in part, to the limited availability of both white peaches and Prosecco, several variations exist.
California produces a white peach that works well, 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.
...
Wikipedia