Prosecco Cocktails: 10 Classic Recipes, From Spritz to Hugo

The best-known Prosecco cocktails are the Aperol Spritz, the Bellini and the Mimosa, followed by the Hugo, the Rossini, the Negroni Sbagliato and the lemon-sorbet Sgroppino. Most need only two or three ingredients and a chilled bottle. Below are ten classics, each with the recipe as its source publishes it (Aperol, the Prosecco DOC consortium, the International Bartenders Association and others), plus our notes on which Prosecco to buy.

Prosecco cocktails at a glance

Cocktail	Main ingredients	Glass	Recipe source
Aperol Spritz	Prosecco, Aperol, soda water	Large wine glass, ice	Aperol
Bellini	Prosecco, white peach purée	Flute	IBA, Prosecco DOC consortium
Mimosa	Prosecco, orange juice	Flute	IBA
Rossini	Prosecco, strawberry purée	Flute	Prosecco DOC consortium
Puccini and Tintoretto	Prosecco with mandarin or pomegranate juice	Flute	IBA
Hugo	Prosecco, elder syrup, soda, mint	White wine glass, ice	Prosecco DOC consortium
Negroni Sbagliato	Sweet vermouth, Campari, Prosecco	Rocks glass, ice	Prosecco DOC consortium
Sgroppino	Lemon sorbet, Prosecco	Coupe or flute	Prosecco DOC consortium
Prosecco French 75	Gin, lemon, sugar syrup, Prosecco	Flute	De Bortoli
Kir pétillant	Crème de cassis, sparkling wine	Flute	See our Kir Royale guide

Glasses for the Negroni Sbagliato and Sgroppino are our suggestion; the consortium’s recipes don’t name one.

1. Aperol Spritz

Aperol calls its spritz a simple, slightly bittersweet cocktail that has become a symbol of Italian aperitivo culture. The brand’s official recipe, which it says is approved by the IBA, follows a 3-2-1 rule:

• 3 parts (90 ml / 3 oz) Prosecco DOC
• 2 parts (60 ml / 2 oz) Aperol
• 1 part (30 ml / 1 oz) soda water
• 1 slice of orange

Method, per Aperol:

1. Fill a large wine glass generously with ice.
2. Pour in the Prosecco.
3. Add the Aperol.
4. Top up with soda water.
5. Garnish with a slice of orange.

Aperol recommends a wine glass with a wide stem or a balloon glass, so the ice, bubbles and orange can mix, and so your hand on the stem doesn’t warm the drink.

In our view, it’s the single most useful Prosecco recipe to learn. The spritz is a cousin of the plain wine-and-soda wine spritzer, but stronger in flavor and less diluted.

2. Bellini

The Venetian classic from Harry’s Bar: two parts Prosecco to one part white peach purée, gently stirred and served in a chilled flute. The IBA lists 100 ml Prosecco to 50 ml purée. Our full Bellini recipe covers the Cipriani history, how to make the purée and what to do when white peaches are out of season.

3. Mimosa

The brunch staple. The IBA’s recipe is equal parts: 75 ml fresh orange juice and 75 ml Prosecco, juice first, then the wine, stirred gently in a flute. Our mimosa recipe compares the ratios other sources use, explains why many prefer Cava, and covers batching for a crowd.

4. Rossini

A strawberry Bellini, named, the Prosecco DOC consortium says, in tribute to the composer Gioacchino Rossini. The consortium’s recipe:

• 10 cl (about 3.4 oz) Prosecco DOC
• 5 cl (about 1.7 oz) fresh strawberry purée

Pour the Prosecco into a mixing glass filled with plenty of ice, add the strawberry purée and mix very gently with a barspoon. Serve in a flute, garnished with a strawberry. In our view, it’s the best Bellini substitute for early summer, when strawberries are at their peak and peaches haven’t arrived.

5. Puccini and Tintoretto

These two are fruit-juice siblings of the Bellini, listed by the IBA as official variations:

• Puccini: fresh mandarin orange juice in place of the peach.
• Tintoretto: fresh pomegranate juice in place of the peach.

The IBA’s page gives the ingredient swap but not separate measures, so we’d keep the Bellini’s 2-to-1 balance as a starting point. A Puccini made with tangerines is, in our view, a more interesting winter alternative to a mimosa.

6. Hugo

The Prosecco DOC consortium says the Hugo was created in 2005 by barman Roland Gruber in Alto Adige (South Tyrol) as an alternative to the spritz, and that it quickly spread through the Triveneto area of northeast Italy. Gruber, the consortium says, first meant to call it Otto. Wikipedia places him at a bar in Naturns and says the original used lemon balm syrup, which was soon replaced by elderflower liqueur.

The consortium’s recipe:

• 6 cl (about 2 oz) Prosecco DOC
• 2 cl (about ⅔ oz) elder syrup (the consortium’s English page calls it elderberry syrup)
• 6 cl (about 2 oz) soda water
• Fresh mint leaves, plus a slice of lime

Pour the Prosecco, syrup and soda into a flared white wine glass full of ice, add the mint and stir gently with a barspoon. Garnish with lime. With as much soda as wine, the Hugo is one of the lightest drinks here.

7. Negroni Sbagliato

Sbagliato means “wrong”. The consortium says the drink was born at Bar Basso in Milan in 1972, when sparkling wine was used instead of gin to top up a Negroni’s vermouth and Campari, and that it became popular worldwide after a viral video in late 2022.

The consortium’s recipe:

• 30 ml (about 1 oz) sweet red vermouth
• 30 ml (about 1 oz) Campari
• 40 ml (about 1.4 oz) Prosecco DOC Brut
• A strip of orange zest

Chill the glass with ice and discard it. Pour in the vermouth, then the Campari, add fresh ice, top with the Prosecco and stir gently, only once, to keep the bubbles. Squeeze the zest over the rim so its oils spray onto the glass, brush the rim with it and drop it in. This is the strongest-tasting drink on the list, and in our view the one for people who find a spritz too sweet.

8. Sgroppino

The Sgroppino blends lemon sorbet with Prosecco. The Prosecco DOC consortium publishes a recipe by chef Danilo Cortellini that starts with homemade sorbet:

• 250 g sugar, 500 ml water and 1 Amalfi lemon (zest and juice) for the sorbet
• 250 ml Prosecco DOC
• Fresh mint, to garnish

Dissolve the sugar in the water with the lemon zest and juice, bring to a boil, then cool. Churn in an ice-cream maker for about 30 minutes and freeze for a couple of hours. Blend the sorbet with the Prosecco and serve chilled right away, before it loses its creamy texture, garnished with mint. Good store-bought lemon sorbet makes it a five-minute job, in our view, and it works as a dessert as much as a drink.

9. Prosecco French 75

The French 75 is normally a gin, lemon and Champagne cocktail. De Bortoli, an Australian winery, publishes a Prosecco version:

• 90 ml (about 3 oz) Prosecco
• 30 ml (about 1 oz) gin
• 15 ml (about ½ oz) lemon juice
• 15 ml (about ½ oz) simple syrup
• Lemon twist, to garnish

Shake the gin, lemon juice and syrup with ice until well chilled, strain into a Champagne flute, top with Prosecco and garnish with a lemon twist. In our view, Prosecco makes it fruitier and less bready than the Champagne original.

10. Kir pétillant

A Kir is crème de cassis topped with dry white wine; made with Champagne it becomes a Kir Royale, and made with another sparkling wine, such as a Brut Prosecco, it’s usually called a Kir pétillant. Our Kir Royale guide has the ratios from the IBA and Saveur, which crème de cassis to buy and the story of Canon Kir of Dijon.

Which Prosecco to use for cocktails

Prosecco is a sparkling white wine from northeast Italy made mainly from the Glera grape; our Prosecco guide explains DOC, DOCG and the sweetness terms. For mixing:

• Choose Brut. It’s the driest common style. Aperitivo liqueurs, fruit purées and syrups already add sugar, and the consortium specifies Brut for its Sbagliato. In our view, the sweeter Extra Dry style only makes sense in drinks without added sugar.
• Buy DOC, not Superiore. Mixers cover the finer points of a Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG, so we’d save those for drinking on their own. Our list of the best Prosecco under $20 has critic-scored bottles at mixing prices.
• Keep it cold. The Prosecco DOC consortium recommends serving Prosecco at 6 to 8°C (about 43 to 46°F). Chill the bottle for a few hours, and the glasses too for flute drinks.
• Open it last. Prepare purées, juices, ice and garnishes first, then open the bottle and pour.

Tip: For any of the flute drinks, we’d pour the Prosecco slowly down the side of a tilted glass. Fruit purées and juices make sparkling wine foam up quickly.

Making Prosecco cocktails for a party

• Spritzes scale easily: set out ice, glasses, Aperol, soda and orange slices, and build each drink to order with Aperol’s 3-2-1 rule. Aperol’s website has a party planner that estimates how many bottles you’ll need.
• Bellinis, Rossinis and mimosas: make the purée or squeeze the juice ahead and keep it cold, then top with Prosecco glass by glass.
• Offer something lighter. A Hugo, with as much soda as wine, or a plain wine spritzer suits guests who want a long, low-strength drink, and in our view every party bar should also have a good alcohol-free option.

Note: Many of these drinks hold up to a full glass of wine, and some add a liqueur or spirit. Count them as you would a glass of wine, and alternate with water.