Rossini
A Rossini is 50ml fresh strawberry purée topped with 100ml cold prosecco in a chilled flute, folded gently and served at once. It is the Bellini’s strawberry relative: the same build and the same wine, with strawberries in place of white peach. About 1.1 UK units. The Consorzio Tutela Prosecco DOC says it pays tribute to the composer Gioacchino Rossini, and the IBA lists it as the Bellini made with fresh strawberry purée. Cipriani’s own page says Giuseppe Cipriani created the Bellini at Harry’s Bar in Venice in 1948, inspired by the painter Giovanni Bellini; the Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails says about 1945. We found no creator and no date for the Rossini. Strawberries bring more acidity and colour than white peach, so the purée needs little help: blend ripe berries, sieve out the seeds and add a few drops of lemon to keep the colour bright.
Glassware: Champagne Flute
Garnish: None and Strawberry slice on the rim
Ingredients
50ml
Ripe strawberries blended and sieved, with a few drops of lemon to hold the colour. Fresh in season; out of season, frozen fruit picked ripe makes a better purée than hard imported berries.
100ml
Cold, at our working figure of 11% ABV. A Brut prosecco suits ripe strawberries; Extra Dry, which is sweeter despite the name, suits sharper fruit.
Instructions
Hull ripe strawberries, blend them smooth with a few drops of lemon juice and push the purée through a fine sieve. Chill it.
Chill a flute.
Pour 50ml of the cold purée into the flute.
Top slowly with 100ml of cold prosecco, folding gently once or twice with a bar spoon.
Serve at once, with a thin strawberry slice on the rim if you like.
Expert Tip
Sieve the purée. A blender does not remove the seeds; push the pulp through a fine sieve with the back of a spoon. Seeds in a flute are the fault nobody overlooks. Add a few drops of lemon to the purée. Strawberries dull and brown within an hour of blending, and the acid holds the colour and sharpens the fruit. Keep everything cold and pour the prosecco slowly down the side of the flute, folding once or twice with a bar spoon. Stirring knocks out the bubbles; pouring fast makes the wine foam over the purée.
Behind the Rossini
Flavour Profile
The Origin
The Rossini follows the Bellini, which Cipriani’s own page says Giuseppe Cipriani created at Harry’s Bar in Venice in 1948, inspired by the fifteenth-century Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini; the Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails says about 1945. The IBA lists the Rossini, with fresh strawberry purée, among the Bellini’s variations. The strawberry version is named for another Italian, the composer Gioachino Rossini, as the Prosecco DOC consortium says. We found no creator and no date for the drink.
The Purée
Ripe fruit, blended, sieved and brightened with a few drops of lemon. The fruit is the only real decision.
British strawberries in season make the finest Rossini: red through to the middle, fragrant and sweet enough to need nothing added. Out of season, frozen strawberries are usually better than fresh imports picked hard, because they were frozen ripe.
Sugar does not rescue underripe fruit. What a pale February strawberry lacks is aroma, and no syrup replaces it. If the fruit does not smell of anything, make something else.
Rossini, Bellini and Mimosa
All three are built the same way, fruit first and sparkling wine on top. They differ in the fruit and the ratio.
Rossini, Bellini and Mimosa compared
Rossini
- Spec
- 50ml strawberry purée, 100ml prosecco
- Strength
- About 1.1 UK units
- Character
- Bright, berried, a little tart
Bellini
- Spec
- 50ml white peach purée, 100ml prosecco
- Strength
- About 1.1 UK units
- Character
- Soft, floral, delicate
Mimosa
- Spec
- 75ml fresh orange juice, 75ml prosecco
- Strength
- About 0.8 UK units
- Character
- Sharp and juicy, lighter in body
| Drink | Spec | Strength | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rossini | 50ml strawberry purée, 100ml prosecco | About 1.1 UK units | Bright, berried, a little tart |
| Bellini | 50ml white peach purée, 100ml prosecco | About 1.1 UK units | Soft, floral, delicate |
| Mimosa | 75ml fresh orange juice, 75ml prosecco | About 0.8 UK units | Sharp and juicy, lighter in body |
Strawberries carry their own acidity and a firm flavour, so they survive a slightly underripe punnet or a plain prosecco better than white peach does. That makes the Rossini the easier of the two to get right at home.
The Bellini depends on white peaches at their peak, which in Britain means a short season and a high price. The Rossini needs only good summer strawberries.
Batching It
The purée is the only part that can be made ahead.
Make it up to a day early, with the lemon in it, and keep it cold. Pour purée into each flute and top with prosecco at the table. In our experience a jug of finished Rossini loses its sparkle in about twenty minutes and pours flat by the third glass.
Keep the prosecco in an ice bucket rather than out on the table. A warm bottle foams over the purée instead of folding into it.
How to Serve It
Cold, in a chilled flute, folded and served at once. At about 1.1 UK units it suits brunch or the first glass of a summer afternoon.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Rossini drink?
What is the difference between a Rossini and a Bellini?
Who invented the Rossini?
Fresh or frozen strawberries?
Can I make Rossinis for a party?
How strong is a Rossini?
How does a Rossini compare with a Mimosa?
Sources.
Correct as of 19 October 2026.
- Consorzio Tutela Prosecco DOC, “Rossini” (regulator’s page: a variation of the Tintoretto, Mimosa and Bellini; pays tribute to the composer Gioacchino Rossini; 10 cl Prosecco DOC and 5 cl fresh strawberry puree).
- Cipriani, “The Original Bellini” (maker’s page: created in 1948 by Giuseppe Cipriani at Harry’s Bar, inspired by the fifteenth-century Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini; white peaches and Prosecco).
- Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (spiritsanddistilling.com), “The Bellini” (secondary source: created around 1945 by Giuseppe Cipriani, founder of Harry’s Bar in Venice; named for Giovanni Bellini).
- IBA, “Bellini” (official specification: 100 ml Prosecco, 50 ml white peach puree; note: Rossini, fresh strawberry puree).
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Bellini
A Bellini is 100ml prosecco over 50ml white peach purée: the purée goes into a chilled flute, the cold prosecco is poured over in stages and folded in, and it is served straight away. About 1.1 UK units. It sits on the IBA’s Contemporary Classics list at these measures. The Oxford Companion says Giuseppe Cipriani, the founder of Harry’s Bar in Venice, created it around 1945, and named it for the fifteenth-century Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini because its peach hue resembled one characteristic of his work. Cipriani’s own Bellini page gives 1948 and says he was inspired by that painter. White peaches decide it. They are paler, more floral and usually milder than yellow ones, and they give the soft blush; yellow fruit makes a sharper drink of the wrong colour.
Mimosa
A Mimosa is 75ml of fresh orange juice poured into a cold flute, then 75ml of cold prosecco added slowly and stirred once. About 0.8 UK units. Those are the IBA’s measures, and the IBA lists an orange twist as an optional garnish. Difford’s Guide, a secondary source, says many books credit Frank Meier at the Ritz in Paris in 1925, though it puts the creation between 1921 and 1923, and the name is commonly said to come from the bright yellow flowers of the mimosa tree; we have found no primary record. The IBA also lists it as Buck’s Fizz. Difford’s defines the Buck’s Fizz as two parts champagne to one of juice and thinks it was created in 1921 by Malachi “Pat” MacGarry, the bartender at Buck’s Club in London. Half the glass is juice, so squeeze it the same day. Carton juice makes a dull Mimosa.
Kir Royale
A Kir Royale is 10ml of crème de cassis in a chilled flute, topped slowly with 90ml of cold brut champagne and not stirred. No garnish is needed. About 1.2 UK units. These are the IBA’s Kir measures, with champagne in place of white wine as the IBA’s own note directs. The Oxford Companion says the Kir is named after Félix Kir, the priest who was mayor of Dijon from 1945 to 1968, and that the drink, known as the Blanc Cassis, took his name only after his election. Difford’s Guide says he popularised it by promoting regional products at official functions. The Royale is the same idea with champagne. One part cassis in ten keeps it dry: the liqueur colours the wine and rounds its acidity without making it sweet. Difford’s Guide calls for six parts of wine to one of cassis, and the Oxford Companion gives 15ml to 100ml. Champagne contains sulphites.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 19 October 2026