The Negroni Sbagliato — sbagliato meaning "mistaken" or "wrong" in Italian — is a Negroni made, gloriously, by accident. Sparkling wine stands in for the gin, and the drink it produces is lower in proof, brighter, and dressed in bubbles: an aperitivo you can happily drink before the aperitivo.
"A Negroni… sbagliato… with prosecco in it."
— Emma D'Arcy, on a newly favourite drink, 2022A Mistake at Bar Basso
The drink was born at Bar Basso in Milan in the early 1970s, when bartender Mirko Stocchetto — reaching for the gin — took hold of a bottle of sparkling wine instead and poured it into a Negroni already in progress. Rather than start over, he served it. Bar Basso pours them still, in its famously oversized glasses.
For decades the Sbagliato was an insider's order, traded quietly among people who knew. Then, in 2022, a single offhand remark in a television interview sent it briefly and joyfully viral — proof that the best way to popularise a fifty-year-old cocktail is to mention it without explaining it.
Equal Parts, Gently Built
Like its parent, the Sbagliato is equal parts: Campari, sweet vermouth, and sparkling wine. But where the Negroni is stirred hard against ice, the Sbagliato is simply built in the glass — the sparkling wine added last and folded in, never stirred — so the bubbles survive intact to the first sip.
Built, Not Stirred
Stirring is the enemy here: every rotation of the bar spoon knocks the life out of the wine. Build the Campari and vermouth over ice, top with cold sparkling wine, and give it one gentle lift with the spoon — no more. Prosecco is traditional and properly Milanese; a dry cava or Champagne works too, and the drier the wine, the better it stands against Campari's sweetness.
The Negroni Family
The original — equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth, stirred over ice with an orange peel.
- 1 ozGin
- 1 ozCampari
- 1 ozSweet vermouth
Whiskey for the gin — a deeper, warmer Negroni made for bourbon and rye drinkers.
- 1 1/2 ozBourbon or rye
- 1 ozCampari
- 1 ozSweet vermouth
A French reinvention in pale gold — Suze and Lillet Blanc for Campari and sweet vermouth.
- 1 1/2 ozGin
- 3/4 ozSuze
- 3/4 ozLillet Blanc
The Negroni gone tropical from the inside — gin infused with toasted coconut and cacao butter.
- 1 1/4 ozCoconut-cacao gin
- 3/4 ozCampari
- 3/4 ozSweet vermouth
The Basque Gilda pintxo as a White Negroni — olive oil-washed gin with guindilla brine.
- 1 1/2 ozOlive oil-washed gin
- 1 ozBlanc vermouth
- 1 ozBitter bianco
The Boulevardier walked to the dry end — rye for the bourbon, dry vermouth for the sweet.
- 1 ozRye whiskey
- 1 ozDry vermouth
- 1 ozCampari
Campari, Cynar, and Fernet stacked in one glass, with the gin down to a supporting pour.
- 1 1/2 ozCampari
- 1 ozLondon Dry gin
- 1/2 ozCynar
Equal parts rye, sweet vermouth, and Cynar, with flaky salt on top to sharpen the bitterness.
- 1 ozRye whiskey
- 1 ozSweet vermouth
- 1 ozCynar