Bellini
There’s no cocktail more popular on Mother’s Day than the Mimosa, and while it’s a delicious brunch or breakfast choice, there’s a champagne cocktail I like even more. The Bellini.
The Bellini is a champagne based cocktail that uses peach nectar instead of orange juice. While orange juice is much easier to come by (you can get it year round) peach nectar, at least fresh peach nectar, is only available in the spring and summer. Yes, it’s true you could get your peach juice out of a can, but there’s nothing in the world better than fresh peaches. And… it just so happens, peaches are back in season, just in time for Mother’s Day. It’s true. I’ve actually seen them in the grocery stores and farmer’s markets; and if I can juice my own peaches for this cocktail, believe me, I’m doing just that.
But I wasn’t the first to juice my own peaches and mix them with some champagne. No, that honor goes to Giuseppe Cipriani, the chief barman of Harry’s Bar in Venice. Cipriani supposedly created the cocktail in 1948 and its pink color is how he chose the name. It reminded him of the color in a Giovanni Bellini painting. The cocktail became a specialty at Harry’s in Venice and then again at the Harry’s in New York, when a French entrepreneur came up with the idea of creating a trade of white peaches between Venice and New York.
Both white and yellow peaches are currently in season. And while I’m partial to the yellow, either one would make a yummy cocktail to serve Mom.
Bellini
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. peach nectar
- 4 oz. sparkling wine or champagne
Directions:
- Pour the peach juice into a champagne flute. Slowly add the sparkling wine. Stir and sever immediately.
