White Negroni

Off all Negroni spinoffs, the White Negroni is most likely the most successful. It was invented in 2001 by British bartender Wayne Collins at VinExpo, a beverage trade show in Bordeaux, France. He wanted to create a Negroni riff that used gin but substituted a French aperitivo and fortified wine in place of the Campari and sweet vermouth. To replace those two stalwarts, he turned to Suze, a bittersweet gentian liqueur and Lillet Blanc, a wine-based aperitif.

The result was a boozy, floral, pale-colored Negroni with a very different mouthfeel than the classic. Cocktail aficionados enjoyed the drink so much that the White Negroni spread worldwide extremely quickly. Its ascent to fame was helped by its introduction to the reknown Pegu Club in New York, greenlighting its spot as a modern-classic in the United States. Other notable bars also adopted it into their menus, including Please Don't Tell (2010 Top 10 US Bars) in NYC , and Dante (2019 World's Best Bar), also in NYC and which pours an entire roster of Negronis.

Collins' original recipe (which we're using) followed the classic Negroni in using equal parts of its ingredients. Some variations use more gin and less Suze to soften the gentian flavor, but thats subjective to your tastes.