Sparkling wine cocktails: Bellini, Mimosa, Buck’s Fizz, Rossini and Sgroppino

Great Britain gives sparkling wine a legal definition in Annex 7. Annex 7 describes it as wine made by a first or second fermentation whose bubbles come only from fermentation, held at not less than three bar of excess pressure at 20°C in a closed container, with a cuvée of at least 8.5% total strength. Quality sparkling wine is the stricter class, at not less than 3.5 bar and 9%.

A protected name is a claim about place. Under Article 93, a designation of origin needs grapes that come exclusively from the area, production in the area and quality that is essentially due to that environment. A geographical indication needs at least 85% of the grapes from the area.

Article 103 protects the name itself. A wine that does not follow the specification cannot trade on it, and the protection holds even when the name is softened with words such as style, type, method or like.

GOV.UK’s guidance on the UK GI schemes says registered names are protected in Great Britain under the UK schemes and in Northern Ireland and the EU under the EU schemes. It adds that any name protected in the EU on 31 December 2020 is protected under both. Any producer may use a registered name if they follow the specification and are verified to do so.

The Comité Champagne dates the Champagne AOC to 29 June 1936 and says the name is protected in more than 130 countries. Its serving guidance says a bottle spends at least 15 months in the cellars of its grower or house before sale.

The Prosecco DOC consortium says the wine is mainly Glera and lists the sparkling Spumante type at 11.00% vol. The consortium says the second fermentation happens in large tanks by the Martinotti method and lasts at least 30 days. The label carries the words Prosecco DOC and Prodotto in Italia.

The Cava Regulatory Board says Cava gets its second fermentation in the bottle and at least nine months on the lees. The board adds that this traditional method is also called méthode champenoise.

Vins d’Alsace says Crémant d’Alsace became an AOC by decree on 24 August 1976, is made by the traditional method and spends over nine months on the lees. It calls Crémant d’Alsace the top AOC sparkling wine drunk in French homes after Champagne.

Sugar decides how dry the bottle tastes. After the sediment is removed, the maker tops up the bottle with a dosage, a mix of wine and sugar, and the Comité Champagne says the amount of that dosage sets the style. The Cava board adds that Brut Nature gets no added sugar.

The Comité Champagne prints the Champagne bands: extra brut zero to six grams of sugar a litre, brut under 12, extra dry 12 to 17, sec 17 to 32, demi-sec 32 to 50 and doux over 50. It says about 90% of Champagne is brut.

The Prosecco DOC consortium prints the same bands for Spumante, with brut nature at zero to three grams. The Cava board prints them in Spanish: brut nature, extra brut, brut up to 12, extra seco, seco, semi seco and dulce.

The law behind the label sits in retained Regulation 2019/33. The Great Britain text of Annex 3 lists four terms for sparkling wine: extra dry for 12 to 17 grams a litre, dry for 17 to 32, medium dry for 32 to 50 and mild or sweet above 50. The EU text as adopted, which legislation.gov.uk also keeps, adds brut nature, extra brut and brut. Under Article 47, the sugar in the bottle may not differ from the label by more than three grams a litre.

Extra dry is the trap. It sits above brut: 12 to 17 grams of sugar a litre against under 12. Difford’s Guide specifies an extra dry Prosecco for its Rossini and for its Sgroppino, and chilled brut champagne for its Buck’s Fizz.

The IBA prints the Bellini as 100ml of Prosecco over 50ml of white peach purée, in a chilled flute (IBA). Giuseppe Cipriani’s own account says he made the first one in 1948 by pureeing small white peaches and adding Prosecco, inspired by the painter Giovanni Bellini (Cipriani).

The IBA gives the Rossini as a Bellini variation using fresh strawberry purée. Difford’s Guide builds it differently: four strawberries muddled with 30ml of strawberry liqueur and 5ml of lemon juice, shaken, strained into a flute and topped with 105ml of extra dry Prosecco. Difford’s names it for the composer Gioachino Rossini and says it is a popular Bellini variant in Venice.

The IBA’s Mimosa is 75ml of orange juice and 75ml of Prosecco, and the IBA notes that it is also known as Buck’s Fizz.

Difford’s Guide keeps the two apart. Its Buck’s Fizz is built at two to one, champagne over orange juice, served without ice in a flute or coupe, and its Mimosa is equal parts, served over ice in a wine glass. It dates the Buck’s Fizz to 1921 at Buck’s Club in London, on sketchy evidence.

The sources agree on the pairings and give no reason for them. What they show is two different wines: the Prosecco DOC consortium describes tank refermentation, and the Comité Champagne describes at least 15 months in the cellar. A swap changes the drink, and neither the IBA nor Difford’s tests one.

The Sgroppino is a different build. Difford’s Guide blends 20ml of vodka, 15ml of cream, 60ml of Prosecco and two and a half scoops of lemon sorbet, dry and on a slow setting, and pours it into a chilled flute. It puts the drink between a cocktail and a dessert, and says it is often served after meals in Venice.

Cold does most of the work. The Comité Champagne gives 8 to 10°C as the ideal serving temperature and suggests 20 to 30 minutes in an ice bucket half filled with water and ice. The Cava board gives about 8°C for young Cava de Guarda and about 10°C for Reserva and Gran Reserva.

Put the fruit in the glass first and the wine last. The IBA pours the Mimosa’s orange juice into the flute and then pours the sparkling wine gently. Its Bellini method adds the Prosecco to the purée and stirs gently. For the Rossini, Difford’s Guide tops the shaken base with sparkling wine and stirs briefly. Squeeze the orange juice the same day: Difford’s asks for fresh juice from chilled oranges.

Keep the wine out of the shaker. Sparkling wine is defined by at least three bar of pressure at 20°C (Annex 7), and the Comité Champagne warns that a cork can fly out of a bottle that has been shaken. Shake or blend only what has no wine in it, as Difford’s does for its Rossini. The one exception in these sources is the Sgroppino, which Difford’s blends with the Prosecco in, dry and on a slow setting. The stirring and shaking guide covers building a drink in the glass.

Pour in stages. The Comité Champagne pours a small amount first, then fills slowly to two-thirds of the glass.

The glass is usually a flute. The IBA names one for the Bellini and the Mimosa, Difford’s names one for the Rossini and Sgroppino, and Difford’s allows a flute or coupe for the Buck’s Fizz. The Comité Champagne prefers a tulip shape but accepts flutes and coupes, and the Cava board says wide glasses lose gas sooner. The Comité Champagne also says to wash glasses by hand without detergent, which stops the bubbles forming.

UK units are strength times volume divided by 1,000: one unit is 10ml of pure alcohol (NHS). The sums use 11% ABV for Prosecco and 12% ABV for Champagne, the strengths on our ingredient pages, and 40% ABV for vodka.

The Rossini’s liqueur has no strength on the page, so the 1.6 comes from Difford’s own figure of at least 12.9 grams of pure alcohol, at eight grams a unit (NHS). Difford’s lists the Sgroppino’s cream as a dairy allergen and its Prosecco as a source of sulphites.

A 750ml bottle of Prosecco at 11% ABV holds about 8.3 units, and a bottle of Champagne at 12% ABV holds nine. The Chief Medical Officers advise no more than 14 units a week on a regular basis, per the NHS.

The Comité Champagne says to seal an unfinished bottle with a stopper made for sparkling wine and keep it cool, upright or on its side. It says an open bottle will not keep for long and that a spoon in the neck does not work. It gives no number of days, so treat the bottle as a same-day ingredient.

Unopened, the Comité Champagne asks for a steady 10 to 15°C, humidity between 60% and 80%, and protection from light, vibration and odours. The Cava board gives about 14°C and 50% humidity.