Recipe: Non-alcoholic peach Bellini, the Venetian classic without alcohol

Bellini was born in Venice between 1934 and 1948, at Harry's Bar, from Giuseppe Cipriani's intuition to combine white peach puree and Prosecco in a color that recalled the toga of a saint in a painting by Giovanni Bellini. It is one of the few cocktails in which the main ingredient is not a spirit but a fruit, which naturally makes it one of the simplest mocktails to reinterpret without losing fidelity to the original: just replace the Prosecco with a good quality non-alcoholic sparkling wine to obtain an almost identical result.

Ingredients (1 flute)

• 50 ml fresh white peach puree (or ripe yellow peach, if you can't find the white one)
• 120 ml of dry non-alcoholic sparkling wine, well chilled
• Half a teaspoon of lemon juice
• A pinch of sugar, only if the peaches are not very sweet

Procedure

Peel and pit the peaches, then blend them until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous puree. Pass the puree through a fine mesh strainer to remove any fibres, add the lemon juice to prevent it from oxidising and maintain its light colour, and taste: if the peaches are not sweet enough, add a pinch of sugar and mix well. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of puree into the bottom of a very cold flute, then slowly top it off with the non-alcoholic sparkling wine, pouring it carefully along the wall of the glass to preserve the bubbles. Mix with a light, circular motion, without using the spoon forcefully.

Because it works

The quality of the peach puree is the only real factor that determines whether your non-alcoholic Bellini will be extraordinary or mediocre: unripe or mealy peaches give a flat result, while ripe and fragrant peaches, perhaps purchased at the market at the height of the season, return the intense aroma that has made this cocktail legendary. The ratio between puree and sparkling wine must remain light, about a quarter of puree to three quarters of liquid, otherwise the Bellini becomes too dense and loses its elegance as an aperitif.

When to prepare it

The Bellini is by exception the perfect mocktail for brunch and summer aperitifs, when peaches are at their best. If you prepare the puree in advance, keep it well covered in the refrigerator for no more than two days, and assemble the cocktail only when serving, so as not to lose the bubbles of the sparkling wine.