Pink Prosecco: how to choose a good Prosecco Rosé

What is pink Prosecco?

Pink Prosecco is Prosecco Rosé: mostly Glera, with 10 to 15% Pinot Nero (Pinot Noir) made as a red wine, which is where the colour comes from.¹ It is always fully sparkling, always vintage-dated with the word Millesimato, and never sweeter than Extra Dry.¹ It became an official Prosecco DOC style in 2020.²

Italy’s agriculture ministry approved it in May 2020, and EU officials followed in late October.² So pink Prosecco is, officially, six years old. That is very little time to earn a reputation, which is why people keep lending it the one pink wine already has: sweet. It isn’t sweet.

How is Prosecco Rosé different from regular Prosecco?

The rosé also has to spend at least 60 days in the tank for its second fermentation, the step that makes the bubbles.¹ Everything else is Prosecco as usual: the same grape, the same region, the same steel tank. The types of Prosecco has the rest of the family.

Is Prosecco Rosé sweet?

No sweeter than Extra Dry. The rules allow only four levels, from Brut Nature to Extra Dry.¹ In grams of sugar per litre, Brut is 0 to 12 and Extra Dry is 12 to 17.³ The sweet end of the scale, Dry and Demi-sec, is simply not allowed for the rosé.

Then comes the trick that catches everyone: Extra Dry is sweeter than Brut. If you like it crisp, buy Brut. If you like a little roundness, Extra Dry. The Brut Truth explains how the words ended up backwards.

Pink doesn’t mean sweet. It just means it looks better in the photograph.

What does Prosecco Rosé taste like?

Like Prosecco with a few red berries in the room. The rules describe the white’s apple, pear, citrus and white flowers, and add red flowers, strawberry and raspberry for the rosé.¹ It should be a bright, pale pink, with fine bubbles and a foam that lasts.¹ The Pinot Nero brings the colour and the berries. Fresh, not heavy.

How do you choose the best Prosecco Rosé?

1. Find the name. Prosecco, Rosé and DOC on the label. A pink sparkling wine without the word Prosecco is something else, and may be lovely, but it isn’t this.
2. Find the year. Every Prosecco Rosé says Millesimato and a vintage, and at least 85% of the wine must come from that year.¹ It may go on sale from the first of January after the harvest,¹ so the newest year on the shelf is usually the freshest bottle.
3. Pick your word. Brut for crisp, Extra Dry for softer. Brut Nature and Extra Brut if you like it bone dry.
4. Ignore the shade. The rules allow a pale pink “more or less intense”.¹ The pinker bottle isn’t the better one. It’s just pinker.

The pink Prosecco table: a field guide

Order a bottle of pink Prosecco and watch the table sort itself out.

• The skeptic. “Isn’t that the sweet one?” Takes a sip of the Brut. Asks for the bottle.
• The photographer. Has rearranged the glasses twice for the light. Will drink hers warm and regret nothing.
• The Extra Dry romantic. Likes it soft and says so. The most honest person at the table.
• The red drinker. Wanted Pinot Noir. Is, technically, drinking some. Nobody tells him.

What to pair with Prosecco Rosé

Pink Prosecco likes food with a little salt or a little fruit, and it is happy at brunch, lunch and the first hour of dinner.

• Salmon, every way. Smoked on a blini, raw as sushi, grilled on a Tuesday.
• Shrimp and shellfish. Especially fried, especially with lemon.
• Prosciutto and melon. Salt, sweet, bubbles. Hard to argue with.
• Strawberries. With a Brut, so the fruit does the sweetening.
• Pizza margherita. Nobody admits this pairing. Everybody should try it.

Our pink Prosecco

Bella Principessa Prosecco DOC Rosé Brut is Glera and Pinot Nero from the province of Treviso, 11%, and Brut: pink, fresh and properly dry. It is vintage-dated, like every Prosecco Rosé. Check the year. Then stop reading and pour.