A breezy, low-alcohol aperitivo that glows orange in the wine glass: Prosecco brings the lift, Aperol the bittersweet bitter-orange bite, and a splash of soda stretches it long over ice. Bright and faintly bitter rather than sweet, it drinks cold and easy, with the orange wheel echoing the peel in the Aperol — an unhurried sunset pour.
Garnish: Orange Wheel
built · Wine Glass · On the Rocks
build
Fill a wine glass with ice cubes.
add
Pour in the Prosecco, then the Aperol, then the splash of soda water.
stir
Stir gently to combine while keeping the bubbles.
garnish
Garnish with a slice of orange.
No single inventor can claim the Spritz; its roots reach back to the Veneto under Habsburg rule, when Austrian soldiers asked for a spray of water in the potent local wine — spritzen in German, which lent the drink its name. Bitter aperitifs entered the mix during the 1920s and 1930s, and by the 1970s the Prosecco-based version had settled into its now-familiar shape. The IBA made it an official cocktail in 2011, with Aperol as the default and Campari, Cynar and Select accepted in its place.