Negroni Sbagliato
A Negroni with sparkling wine where the gin should be. Sbagliato means 'mistaken' — the story is that a bartender reached for the wrong bottle.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Fill a rocks glass with ice.
Add the Campari and sweet vermouth and stir briefly to chill.
Top with cold prosecco and stir once, gently.
Garnish with an orange slice.
A thoughtful finish
- Add the prosecco last and stir only once. It is the lightest thing in the glass and the easiest to ruin.
- Use a brut prosecco. Campari and vermouth bring plenty of sweetness and an extra-dry prosecco — which is sweeter than brut — tips it over.
- Keep the prosecco properly cold. There is no gin here to carry the drink, so temperature is doing more work than usual.
Common mistakes
- Treating it as a Negroni with a splash of wine. It is a much lighter, lower-strength drink in its own right.
- Using a sweet sparkling wine, which makes it syrupy.
- Over-stirring and flattening the bubbles.
A few good questions.
How strong is it compared with a Negroni?
Much weaker. Replacing an ounce of 44% gin with an ounce of 11% prosecco roughly halves the alcohol, which is why it works as an afternoon drink.
Prosecco or Champagne?
Prosecco, both traditionally and practically — it is softer and fruitier, and Champagne's nuance is wasted under Campari. Use brut.
Is the 'mistake' story true?
Bar Basso tells it and has done for decades. There is no documentary proof either way, and it is a good enough story that nobody is pushing hard to disprove it.
Why did it suddenly get popular?
A 2022 video of the actor Emma D'Arcy ordering one circulated very widely and the drink went from a Milanese speciality to a global menu fixture within months.
Variations
- Negroni — Gin in place of the sparkling wine.
- Americano — Soda water in place of the sparkling wine.
- Aperol Spritz — Aperol, prosecco and soda.
- Mezcal Negroni — Mezcal in place of gin.
Where it comes from
c. 1970s · Milan, Italy · Mirko Stocchetto · Bar Basso
Mirko Stocchetto at Bar Basso in Milan is credited with it, some time in the 1970s. The name means ‘mistaken’ or ‘wrong’ in Italian, and the story — which Bar Basso has never discouraged — is that he reached for the prosecco instead of the gin while making a Negroni and served it anyway. Bar Basso still serves it, and the drink had a second life entirely when a 2022 video of the actor Emma D’Arcy ordering one went viral and pushed it onto menus worldwide.
Sources
- Bar Basso, Milan, house history, current (venue)
- Gary Regan, The Negroni, 2015 (book)
Strength. About 1.03 US standard drinks at an estimated 13.5% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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