How To Make A Classic Peach Bellini At Home

The mimosa may be the most famous of two-ingredient sparkling wine cocktails, but it's not the only one. There's the blackcurrant-flavored kir royale and the beery black velvet, but our favorite for a summertime brunch is the peachy bellini. "It's light and refreshing and feels decadent but is very simple to make," says developer Julianne De Witt of her variation of the cocktail, since all you need to do is puree a few peaches and mix them with sparkling wine. 

For food-pairing purposes, the bellini is a natural fit for brunch dishes such as omelets, eggs benedict, or Monte Cristo sandwiches. It makes for a perfect afternoon refresher as well, with De Witt's serving suggestion being "savory light foods such as canapes, cheeses, and charcuterie." It could also complement fruity desserts such as strawberry shortcake, mango macarons, or raspberry sorbet. If you're expecting non-drinking guests at your summertime soiree, they can also enjoy non-alcoholic bellinis made by swapping the Prosecco for sparkling cider or grape juice.

As we mentioned previously, the bellini consists of nothing more than peach puree and prosecco. To dress it up a bit, you may garnish the drink with a slice of peach and a sprig of mint.

Peel the peaches.

Cut the peaches in half, remove the pits, then slice into quarters.

Add the peaches to a food processor or blender.

Blend the peaches until smooth.

Pour 2 ounces of peach puree into a Champagne flute.

Top with 4 ounces of Prosecco.

Stir gently.

Garnish with a peach slice and sprig of mint, and serve.

To make a good bellini, you'll need to begin with a very smooth peach puree. If peaches are in season, pick ones that are very ripe and soft. (While white ones are called for here, it's okay to use yellow ones.) Not only will soft peaches be easier to blend, but they will also taste sweeter. If peaches are out of season, you may use frozen ones, but you'll need to allow them to thaw first unless what you have in mind is a bellini slushie. You could also opt to use canned peaches or even peach baby food since the latter is essentially nothing more than strained peaches.

As for the sparkling wine, you'll want something slightly dry to contrast with the sweet peaches. If you prefer, you could even swap out the Prosecco for a different sparkling wine, but again, it shouldn't be any sweeter than semi-dry unless you like a super-sugary cocktail. There's no need to splurge on capital-C Champagne, though, since this is a mixed drink where the flavor of peaches is meant to dominate so it's okay to use an Aldi budget buy.

A final tip for bellini-making is to remember to add the peach puree to the glass before you pour in the sparkling wine. This way, your cocktail won't fizzle out since the bubbles will stay at the top where they belong. Fruit in the glass first also makes for less of a mess than doing it the other way around.

While some drinks have an origin story lost to the mists of time, the bellini seems to have been developed within a fairly specific time frame. At some point between 1934 and 1948, it was added to the menu at Harry's Bar in Venice, Italy. The bellini may be the most famous cocktail to come out of Harry's Bar, but it's hardly the watering hole's only claim to fame since the spot was a hangout for mid-century celebs such as Orson Welles, Truman Capote, and Ernest Hemingway. Bar owner Giuseppe Cipriani, something of a celebrity in his own right, is credited with concocting the very first bellini.

The original bellini was made with pureed white peaches (as is ours), which on their own may impart a light blush hue. Cipriani wanted a brighter cocktail, however, so he added a small amount of raspberry juice. The resulting drink was bright pink in color, a shade that apparently reminded him of a saint's robe in a religious painting by the Renaissance artist Giovanni Bellini. This is why he gave the artist's last name to his creation, or so the story goes.