Bar Basso

A Negroni Sbagliato translates into a “mistaken” Negroni. According to mixology lore, it all started out in 1972 when the bartender Mirko Stocchetto at Bar Basso in Milan mistakenly poured sparkling wine instead of the gin into the drink he was preparing for a customer. Stocchetto realized his mistake, but the results were so delicious, he decided to run with it.

According to some accounts, the Negroni itself was the result of a fortuitous ingredient swap. One of the most popular tales about the elixir’s creation was that in Florence in 1919, bartender Forsco Scarselli swapped the sparkling water in an Americano for gin.

As is so often the case with cocktail origin stories, both of these tales are disputed. Stocchetto’s son would later say that his father’s creation was not ’sblagliato’ at all. Rather, he claimed that his Venetian-born father was experimenting with lighter variations on spritzes and invented his winning formula very much on purpose.

“The name sbagliato, especially in Italian, opens up a world of possibilities: Why mistaken?” he said in a 2022 interview with Slate. “So the name was catchy and the drink is very cheeky.”

The Negroni Sbagliato’s cheeky appeal has helped it gain a global following. Yet while this bitter, bubbly drink can now be found all over, nothing quite beats sipping it during aperitivo hour at the place that invented it. Bar Basso’s is best accompanied by dishes of olives, chips, and other salty snacks.