🍷 Spritz
Also known as: Aperol Spritz, spritz cocktail, Italian spritz
An Italian aperitif: sparkling wine, a bitter liqueur and soda water.
Spritz is an Italian aperitif. It is mixed from sparkling wine, a bitter liqueur and soda water, and served over ice with a slice of orange. The result is a light, slightly bitter drink.
The recipe of the International Bartenders Association uses 90 ml of Prosecco, 60 ml of Aperol and a splash of soda water. The ingredients are built in a wine glass filled with ice and stirred gently. Other versions use Campari, Cynar or Select instead of Aperol. The soda water makes the drink weaker than plain wine.
The spritz is linked with the Veneto in north-eastern Italy. There it is drunk before dinner with cicchetti, small appetisers.
Spritz belongs to the family of wine cocktails. It is easy to confuse with a spritzer, where wine is diluted with fizzy water, but a spritz also contains a bitter liqueur. The drink contains alcohol, so keep to moderation, especially on a hot day.
How it connects to Wine
🍷 Spritz → kind of → 🍷 Wine cocktails → kind of → 🍷 Types of wine → kind of → 🍷 Wine
Links
- Images and sayings
- 🥃 Aperitif
- Part of
- 🍷 Wine cocktails
- Where it is made
- 🗺️ Italian wine
- Similar and different
- 🍷 Prosecco, 🍷 Spritzer, 🍷 Wine cocktails, 🥃 Americano
- In other topics
- 🥃 Aperol, 🥃 Campari Group, 🥃 Campari
Frequently asked questions
What is in a spritz?
Sparkling wine, a bitter liqueur and soda water, served over ice with a slice of orange.
Is it true that a spritz is just wine with soda?
No. Wine with fizzy water is a spritzer; a spritz also contains a bitter liqueur, so it tastes noticeably more bitter.
Is the Aperol spritz the only version?
Not quite. The IBA recipe uses Aperol, but other versions use Campari, Cynar or Select instead.
What to read next
- 🗺️ Italian wine — The country's wine and winemaking: regions, grape varieties, appellations.
- 🥃 Campari Group — Campari Group is an Italian spirits group based in Sesto San Giovanni (Milan), founded in 1860. It owns more than 50 brands, including Aperol, Campari, Wild Turkey and Courvoisier, and calls itself the leader of the aperitif category.
- 🥃 Americano — Americano is a cocktail of 30 ml Campari, 30 ml sweet red vermouth and a splash of soda water, built in an old fashioned glass over ice; the IBA lists it in The Unforgettables.
Similar
🍷 Bellini · 🍷 Wine cooler · 🍷 Kalimotxo · 🍷 Bowle · 🍷 Mimosa · 🍷 Kir
⚠️ Wine contains alcohol: adults only, drink in moderation. Wine usually contains sulphites; egg white or milk proteins are sometimes used for fining — important for allergies and for vegans.
Sources
- Wikidata
- International Bartenders Association (IBA): Spritz, official recipe
- Italia.it (Ministero del Turismo, ENIT): Typical food products in Veneto