The summer winds are blowing in and preparing us for warm evenings full of outside dinners, happy hours, and barbeques with friends.   That’s why we decided to dedicate this article to an enticing, refreshing beverage that is light and delicious.

Before we get into the details of this month’s tasty concoction, let’s review a little history….

Giovanni Bellini was a Renaissance artist who was most well known for his use of rich colors.  Centuries after his death, his use of passionate orange and peach tones were still inspiring one particular Italian bartender.

Harry’s Bar in Venice, is a well known local haunt for many travelers.  It’s warm and inviting ambiance often attracted famous patrons such as Ernest Hemingway and Orson Wells.  In the late forties, the bar’s founder, Giuseppi Cipriani, creatively decided to take the popular Italian tradition of marinating white peaches to a whole new level by combining this lush nectar with Prosecco. 

This sparkling wine cocktail became such a hit that Giuseppi’s customers demanded it be given a name.  Since Giuseppi took pleasure in the vibrant peach and orange shades from Giovanni Bellini’s paintings, he decided to name his similarly warm colored drink the Bellini. 

Now that we’ve covered the history of this drink, let’s make sure you know just how to make it for your next outdoor event! 

Prosecco is an Italian white grape that is most often used for Spumante.   Since Prosecco is made using the charmat method, it can be distributed at a lower cost than those sparkling wines made by the method champenoise.  The charmat method is still a respectable method of producing sparkling and therefore will not induce the much feared “champagne headache“.  

Like most sparkling wines, there are a variety of label terms used to illustrate sugar content:  Brut, Extra Dry, Sec, Demi-Sec.  These are listed in order from lowest amounts of residual sugar to highest. 

Since the nectar of the peaches is so sweet, this cocktail is best mixed with a drier Prosecco.  Specifically, we recommend the following easy to find options:   NV Zardetto, Brut (approximately $12) and NV Borgo Macredo, Extra Dry (approximately $13). 

To truly experience Giuseppi’s invention, one needs to visit Harry’s Bar in Venice.  The use of the pure local white peaches makes the drink irresistible.  In fact, many people – tourists, famous people, and locals alike — line up on Friday nights to get into the bar for this very reason.

Until a trip to Venice is in your near future, we recommend you recreate your own version to tide you over.  As with all sparkling wines; the colder it is the better, so be sure to chill your Prosecco prior to serving.  Don’t be dismayed when you find that peach nectar is not as easy to find as orange juice at your local grocer.  We often use the Santa Cruz brand available in the juice aisle with other organic jarred juices. 

Once your Prosecco is chilled and you have found the peach nectar simply fill your favorite champagne glass about half full with Prosecco and then add a significant splash of peach nectar.  Then sit back, relax and take in the beauty of the peach color Giovanni Bellini blended centuries ago.  How could he have imagined that you would be toasting his name with a drink that gives us even more reason to enjoy the summer!

First, let’s clarify some terminology. You may notice my persistence in using the term, sparkling wine instead of the more common term, champagne. This is because by European law only sparkling wines from the Champagne region in France are allowed to use the name on bottle labels.

Many wine making countries have their own names for sparkling wine: Cava in Spain, Spumante in Italy, and Sekt in Germany. All these countries make renowned wine, so when it comes to sparkling wine, why are we most familiar with Champagne?

Champagne is a Controlled Appellation (AoC) in France that is credited with the invention of effervescent wine. Interestingly enough, the creation of sparkling wines was incidental. As a matter of fact, it was considered a fault in the wine and they tried to stop it! During the late 1400s, the weather in Champagne radically changed, colder weather started coming earlier, thus stunting the first fermentation process, a crucial part of sparkling wine making. During the Renaissance, a monk named Dom Perignon was tasked to prevent the bubbles and make a still wine. After years of failed attempts, Dom Perignon decided to embrace bubbles and perfect it with innovative techniques he invented (still in use today) to make Champagne a world class wine. His efforts resulted in English and French Royalty taking to the sparkling wine, and thus its popularity began.

Centuries later, the Champagne House Moet and Chandon created a Prestige Cuvee (top of the line) and named it Dom Perignon. This specific champagne was created in the 1930’s to honor Perignon’s contributions to wine making and to celebrate the end of the American Prohibition.

Another great contributor to Champagne techniques is Madame Clicquot. Widowed by a Champagne house owner, the French woman took over and managed the house herself. She is responsible for inventing the method of riddling – a process of clarifying the sediment during fermentation – and other innovations for bottling champagne. The Clicquot champagne house continues to honor her with their premier champagne “Veuve Clicquot” (veuve is French for widow)

The champagne method produces superior quality because the second fermentation and additional years of aging occur in a bottle. In contrast, some producers make their sparkling wines in big tanks to produce more wine more quickly. Some of these cheaper, faster methodology results in bigger bubbles in your sparkling wine. It is the carbon dioxide in these bubbles that is responsible for what many of us know as the “champagne headache”.

Understanding the terminology used on sparkling wine labels can help you avoid these big bubbles and allow you to enjoy sparkling wine without the threat of the imminent headache. When shopping for a sparkling wine, the key thing to look for on the label is something indicating it was processed the champagne method and produces smaller bubbles. Terminology to look for is “Method Champaneux”, “Method Traditonelle”, or sometimes simply “fermented in the bottle”.

One last tidbit to better understand the labels of sparkling wines is to understand common terms to describe sugar content: Brut, Extra Dry, Sec, Demi-Sec. These are listed in order from lowest amounts of residual sugar to highest. Although demi-sec would be the sweetest of these types, it still wouldn’t be considered a dessert wine.

Some reasonably priced sparkling wines that I found at Redstone Liquors are:

Domaine Ste. Michelle made in Washington State, only uses method traditionelle, and they are able to keep practical prices in the $12 to $20 range.

Freixenet, a Cava from Spain, also uses method traditionelle and is available for around $15.

If you have a really special occasion and are willing to spend $40 on a bottle try the Veuve Clicqout Yellow Label, and make a cheer to Madame Clicquot!

Cheers to you all, and have a happy, safe, and headache-free Holiday Season!