Bellini (cocktail)

Bellini
IBA Official Cocktail
Bellini Cipriani
Type Wine cocktail
Primary alcohol by volume
  • Prosecco
Served Straight up; without ice
Standard drinkware
Champagne flute
IBA specified ingredients*
Preparation Pour peach puree into chilled flute, add sparkling wine. Stir gently.
Notes Traditionally a Bellini uses white peaches for the fruit.

A Bellini cocktail is a mixture of Prosecco sparkling wine and peach purée or nectar. This cocktail originated in Venice, Italy.

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, a favorite haunt of Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis and Orson Welles.[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 pureé to both locations, it was a year-round favorite.[1]

The Bellini is an IBA Official Cocktail. They also suggest a Puccini, replacing the peach puree with an equal amount of mandarin juice, a Rossini, which uses strawberry puree 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 puree.

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

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]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "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. 1 2 Bellini Cocktail Recipe. Undated. GourmetSleuth.com. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  4. 1 2 Sicard, Cheri. Featured Cocktail – Bellini. 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. ↑ Bellini Base
  7. ↑ Chiarello, Michael. Bellini Cocktail, from the "Lazy Breakfast in Bed" episode of Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello. Scripps Networks, Inc. Retrieved February 5, 2007.

External links

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