Wine cocktails
Bellini
This Bellini cocktail was invented by the bartender Giuseppe Cipriani between 1934 and 1948 at Harry's Bar in Venice, Italy. The name is after the Italian Renaissance painter Giovanni Bellini because the drink color reminded Cipriani of the painter's preferred warm and subdued color palette. The original Bellini is made with white peaches, although most variations use yellow peaches because they are more available and ripen faster and better. When peaches are out of season, canned or frozen peaches will work, but the sugar content can make the drink too sweet, so choose unsweetened canned peaches if you can't find fresh ones. For garnishing the drink, frozen slices of peach are a great option and it will keep the Bellini colder without any dilution. The fruit juice gave the drink a unique translucent pink hue. Since then, the recipe has developed several versions, because white peaches weren’t available everywhere at all times. It's delightfully delicate in flavor and very easy to make. A Bellini is a cocktail made with Prosecco and peach purée or nectar. It originated in Venice, Italy. Pour peach puree into chilled flute, add Prosecco. The Bellini is an IBA Official Cocktail.
Black Velvet
The Black Velvet has been around quite for a while. It was invetened in 1861 at Brooks’s Club in London to honor the passing of Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert. The dark beer added a sad note to the usually festive Champagne. It is supposed to symbolize the black armbands worn by mourners. It was said that "even the champagne should be in mourning." Today, the drink is not exclusive to mourning. The drink is easy to make event at home. Pour some Guinness into a glass, top it with Champagne, and that's all. This is the most common combination, but some choose to skip the Champagne and use hard cider. Both variants are great and it's fun to experiment. The black velvet is an interesting mixed drink that blends Champagne and dark beer in a single glass. One may think this an unlikely combination but it's quite good. The cocktail has been such a success over the years that it encouraged a few companies to bottle similar mixes over the years. Nevertheless, it's rare that these last long on the market because because the cocktail it's such an easy mix that anyone can pull off at home.