Negroni Sbagliato Recipe

Name: Negroni Sbagliato
Prep time: 3 min
Total time: 3 min
Yield: 1 cocktail
Ingredients: 1 oz (30 ml) Campari; 1 oz (30 ml) sweet (red) vermouth; 3 oz (90 ml) prosecco, chilled; Ice cubes, enough to fill the glass; 1 orange half-wheel or peel, to garnish

The Sbagliato is a Negroni with prosecco in place of gin, which drops it from a stiff sipper to something you can drink before dinner without losing the afternoon. Sbagliato means mistaken in Italian, and the widely told story is that a Milanese bartender reached for the wrong bottle. Same bittersweet Campari-and-vermouth backbone, poured long and lower in strength per sip, plus bubbles.

Negroni Sbagliato

Prep3 min

Total time3 min

Servings1 cocktail

DifficultyEasy

Ingredients

1 oz (30 ml) Campari
1 oz (30 ml) sweet (red) vermouth
3 oz (90 ml) prosecco, chilled
Ice cubes, enough to fill the glass
1 orange half-wheel or peel, to garnish

Instructions

Fill a rocks glass or a large wine glass with ice cubes.
Pour in the Campari.
Add the sweet vermouth.
Stir briefly to chill and combine the two before the bubbles arrive.
Top with chilled prosecco, poured slowly down the side of the glass.
Give one gentle lift with a bar spoon, from the bottom up.
Garnish with an orange half-wheel and serve immediately.

Lower in strength per sip than a classic gin Negroni, roughly 15% in the glass against about 27%, but not a lighter drink overall: it carries close to the same total alcohol, around 0.7 fl oz of ethanol against 0.8. Longer and easier to drink, not weaker.

Tips

Stir the Campari and vermouth together before the prosecco goes in. Trying to integrate them afterwards costs you most of the carbonation.
Use vermouth that has been opened recently and kept in the fridge. It is a fortified wine, not a spirit, and it oxidizes to a dull, stewed flavor after about 6 weeks open.
A drier prosecco keeps the bitterness in focus. If yours is sweet, cut the vermouth to 0.75 oz to compensate.
For a Sbagliato with more grip, use a bolder sweet red vermouth such as Carpano Antica rather than a standard rosso such as Martini Rosso or Cinzano Rosso.

FAQ

What usually goes wrong?

Shaking it, or stirring hard after the prosecco. Both flatten the drink and leave you with a warm, sticky Campari and vermouth mix.

How do I store it?

Serve immediately. Once the prosecco is in, the drink is at its best for about ten minutes and there is no way to hold it.