Classic Bellini Recipe
A Bellini is a classic Italian cocktail made with just two ingredients: white peach purée and chilled Prosecco. It’s sweet, fruity, and sparkling. You can make one in about 5 minutes, and it serves one.
- Basechampagne
- Strength11% ABV, approximate
- Methodbuild
- Glassflute
- Difficultyeasy
- Total13 min
- Serves1
- Sweet
- Fruity
- Sparkling with a delicate peach perfume
- Blender
- Jigger or measuring spoons
- Fine-mesh strainer
- Paring knife
- Flute glass
The Bellini is the drink that made brunch famous. It’s a simple two-ingredient build that relies entirely on the quality of those two ingredients. You need ripe, fragrant white peaches and a dry, chilled sparkling wine. This version uses a simple peach purée, which is the only way to go. The canned stuff is too sweet and syrupy, and it kills the delicate flavor of the peach. When you make a real Bellini recipe at home, you get a bright, lightly sweet drink that's more about the fruit's perfume than the sugar. It takes about five minutes and no special skill. Just a blender and a bottle of cold bubbly.
About the Bellini
The Bellini was invented in the 1940s at Harry's Bar in Venice by Giuseppe Cipriani. He named it after the painter Giovanni Bellini, whose work featured a similar warm, pink hue. It became a signature cocktail of the bar and spread worldwide from there. It's traditionally a summer drink, made when white peaches are at their peak, and it's served in a chilled flute. The original recipe is famously simple: white peach purée and Prosecco. It's the standard-bearer for the entire family of sparkling wine and fruit drinks, distinct from a mimosa because of its use of peach purée instead of orange juice.
Why it works
- 1Ripe white peaches provide the natural sweetness and acidity, so no added sugar is needed.
- 2A dry Prosecco provides the structure and bubbles, balancing the fruit without overpowering it.
- 3The ratio of 2 parts wine to 1 part purée creates a drink that is sparkling and refreshing, not heavy.
- 4Blending the peaches creates a thick purée that slowly ribbons through the wine, creating a gradient effect.
- 5Chilling both components means the drink never gets diluted or warm, preserving the bubbles.
Ingredients
Serves 1.
1 large ripe white peaches, peeled and chopped, peeled and roughly choppedWhite peaches are traditional and have a lower acidity than yellow peaches, which keeps the drink sweet without added sugar.
0.25 oz fresh lemon juice, about 1 tsp, to tasteA touch of lemon juice helps the purée stay bright and prevents the peach from oxidizing and turning brown.
4 oz chilled Prosecco or sparkling wine, well chilledThe wine should be dry so the sweetness comes only from the fruit.
ingredients
The peaches are the star here, so they need to be truly ripe. They should give slightly to gentle pressure and smell intensely peachy. If white peaches aren't in season, you can use a high-quality jarred peach purée or a good yellow peach. Avoid canned peaches in syrup; they are too sweet and have a cooked flavor. For the wine, a dry Prosecco is classic, but you can also use a dry Cava or a dry Champagne. The drier the wine, the better the fruit will shine.
You need: blender, jigger or measuring spoons, fine-mesh strainer, paring knife, flute glass.
Method
Peel and chop the peaches
Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Score a small 'X' on the bottom of the peach and blanch it for 30 seconds. Transfer it to an ice bath. The skin will slide right off. Cut the peach in half, remove the pit, and roughly chop the flesh.
Look for: The skin should slip off easily after blanching, and the flesh is a pale, creamy white.
Common mistake: Skipping the blanching and trying to peel a hard peach with a knife. You'll lose half the fruit and be left with a mangled mess. Only work with ripe peaches that smell sweet.
Add the chopped peach flesh and the lemon juice to a blender. Blend on high for 30 to 45 seconds until completely smooth. For a perfectly silky texture, you can push the purée through a fine-mesh strainer to catch any bits of fibrous pulp.
Look for: The purée should be thick, smooth, and pale yellow with a velvety sheen, with no visible chunks of peach.
Common mistake: Blending a peach that isn't ripe. It will result in a watery, grainy purée that doesn't have enough flavor. If your blender leaves it chunky, strain it, but know that a properly ripe peach blends perfectly smooth on its own.
Pour the purée into a small container and place it in the freezer for about 10 minutes, or keep it in the fridge until you are ready to use it. It needs to be as cold as the wine.
Look for: The purée has thickened slightly from the cold but isn't frozen solid.
Common mistake: Using warm purée. It will immediately melt the bubbles in the Prosecco, making the Bellini fall flat and taste watery.
Pour the chilled peach purée into the bottom of a chilled flute glass. It will settle at the bottom. Slowly pour the chilled Prosecco over the purée. The wine will naturally mix and ribbon through the fruit.
Look for: The bright orange-pink purée sits at the bottom of the glass, slowly rising and swirling through the bubbly, clear wine to create a gradient from deep color at the bottom to pale at the top.
Common mistake: Pouring the wine too fast. It will cause the purée to mix into the wine completely, turning the whole drink muddy and destroying the beautiful gradient. Pour it gently down the side of the glass.
Give the drink one very gentle stir with a long spoon to incorporate a bit of the purée into the top half of the wine. Serve immediately, before the bubbles begin to dissipate.
Look for: The drink is a soft, consistent pastel peach color with a steady stream of fine bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass.
Common mistake: Vigorous stirring. It will knock out all the dissolved CO2 and flatten the drink. One or two turns of the spoon is all it needs.
Tips from the bar
- 1Use the ripest peach you can find. The flavor is the entire drink, so don't compromise.
- 2Chill both the wine and the purée to about 40°F (4°C). Any warmer and the drink will be flat.
- 3If you're making a batch, multiply the purée and keep it in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 24 hours, but add the wine just before serving.
- 4For a fun variation, add a single raspberry to the glass before pouring the Prosecco. It adds a hint of color and a slight tartness.
- 5Don't use a yellow peach if you can avoid it. White peaches have the delicate, floral character that makes a Bellini special.
Variations
- The Raspberry Bellini: Add a bar spoon of raspberry purée to the glass before the peach purée for a layer of tart red fruit.
- The Frozen Bellini: Blend the peach with a handful of ice and a splash of the sparkling wine for a slushy summer version.
- The Strawberry Bellini: Swap the peach purée for a simple strawberry purée for a different, but equally bright, fruit flavor.
Substitutions
- Prosecco: Use any dry sparkling wine like Cava or Champagne. The drink will work, but the flavor profile will be slightly different.
- White peaches: If white peaches are unavailable, use high-quality ripe yellow peaches, but reduce the lemon juice to balance the higher acidity.
Serving, storing, batching
A Bellini is a brunch classic for a reason. Serve it alongside light, egg-based dishes like a frittata or eggs benedict, or with fresh pastries and fruit. The sweet-tart wine and fruit cut through rich, savory breakfast foods perfectly.
The peach purée can be made up to 24 hours ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The assembled Bellini must be consumed immediately, as the bubbles will dissipate and the drink will become flat.
For a party, make a large batch of the purée ahead of time. When you're ready to serve, pour 1 part purée into the bottom of each flute and top with 2 parts Prosecco. Never mix the two in a pitcher, as the drink will lose its bubbles before you pour it.
Questions people ask
A traditional Bellini is made with just two ingredients: white peach purée and chilled Prosecco. The ratio is typically one part purée to two parts Prosecco. It's a simple, bright, and sparkling cocktail.
The difference is the fruit. A mimosa uses orange juice and sparkling wine, while a Bellini uses white peach purée and sparkling wine. The Bellini is sweeter and more delicate, while the mimosa is brighter and more citrusy.
Yes, the original and classic Bellini is always peach. However, many bars make variations using other fruits like strawberry, raspberry, or blood orange. These are often given different names, like a Rossini for strawberry or a Puccini for mandarin.
You only need two ingredients: ripe white peaches and a dry sparkling wine, like Prosecco. A small amount of lemon juice is often added to the purée to keep it from browning.
Blend peeled and chopped white peaches with a squeeze of lemon juice until smooth. Chill the purée. Pour 2 ounces of the purée into a chilled flute glass and top gently with 4 ounces of chilled Prosecco. Give it one gentle stir.
A Bellini is a cocktail made with peach purée and Prosecco. A mimosa is a cocktail made with orange juice and sparkling wine. The Bellini is sweeter and more elegant, while the mimosa is more common and refreshing.
The easiest way is to use a high-quality peach purée from a jar and simply top it with chilled Prosecco. But for the best flavor, blending one ripe peach with a little lemon juice takes only five minutes.
The key ingredients are ripe white peaches and a dry sparkling wine. The quality of these two components decides the entire character of the drink. Nothing else is needed.
Last word
A ripe peach and a cold bottle of bubbly. When the fruit is at its peak, this is one of the best drinks you can make. Use the best peaches you can find.
