Prosecco vs Champagne: which to pour, when

What’s the difference between Prosecco and Champagne?

Prosecco is Italian: made mostly from Glera in northeast Italy, with its bubbles made in a large sealed tank. Champagne is French: made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier in the Champagne region,¹ with its bubbles made in each bottle and long ageing on the yeast.² So Prosecco tastes fresh and fruity; Champagne, toasty and deep.

Neither is better. They are built for different jobs, like sneakers and dress shoes. The mistake is wearing the wrong pair to the party.

Why do they taste so different?

Everything follows from where the second fermentation happens. Champagne’s happens inside each bottle, and the wine then rests on its spent yeast: at least 15 months for non-vintage Champagne, 12 of them on the yeast, and three years for vintage.⁵ That long contact is where the brioche and toast come from.⁴ It is slow, careful and expensive.

Prosecco’s happens in a tank, and the wine is bottled young. Less time with the yeast keeps the grape’s own fruit and flowers at the front. It is faster, which is the main reason Prosecco costs less. That is the fully sparkling Prosecco, spumante; the gentler frizzante may get its sparkle in the bottle or the tank, and there is a still Prosecco too.³ How the Charmat method works.

Champagne is built around time. Prosecco is built around freshness.

Is Prosecco a type of Champagne?

No. Champagne is a protected name for sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France,¹ and Prosecco is a protected name for sparkling wine from its own area of Italy.³ Calling Prosecco “champagne” is like calling a Napa Cabernet “Bordeaux”: people will know what you mean, and one of them will correct you.

In the US, “Champagne” is classed as a semi-generic name, so a few older American labels may still use it alongside their own place of origin.⁶⁷ On anything from Europe, it means the French original.

Which is sweeter, Prosecco or Champagne?

Neither, by nature. Both use the same sweetness words, and the same trap: Extra Dry is sweeter than Brut.⁸ A Brut Champagne and a Brut Prosecco are both dry. Most Champagne is sold as Brut.⁹ On the Prosecco shelf, look for Brut or Extra Dry. The Brut Truth explains the backwards words.

Which has more bubbles?

Champagne is under more pressure, about 6 bar in the bottle.² A fully sparkling Prosecco must have at least 3 bar,¹⁰ and its bubbles feel lighter and frothier. More is not better; it is different. A frothy bubble is exactly what you want on top of a spritz.

Which has more alcohol?

Less difference than you’d think. Fully sparkling Prosecco must be at least 11% alcohol.³ For any two bottles, read the percentage on each label: in equal pours the higher number holds more alcohol, and a bigger glass holds more again.¹¹

Which should you pour? The best sparkling wine for the moment

• Brunch, mimosas, BellinisProsecco. Its fruit suits juice, and the toast you’d pay for in Champagne vanishes under orange juice anyway.
• Spritzes and cocktailsProsecco. Fresh fruit and a frothy top are the whole job.
• A wedding or a big partyProsecco. Same celebration, kinder budget, more bottles, more toasts.
• Fried food, salty snacks, sushiProsecco, every time. Bubbles and salt are old friends.
• A rich dinnerChampagne. Its depth stands up to cream sauces, roast chicken and aged cheese.
• One bottle that is the eventChampagne, if the toast is the point. Prosecco, if the party is.

And the wider shelf: Spain’s Cava and Italy’s Franciacorta are made the same way as Champagne, in the bottle.¹² Prosecco is the best known of the sparkling wines built around the tank and fresh fruit.

The sparkling wine aisle: a field guide

• The Champagne-for-everything host. Generous, and pouring a fifteen-month-aged wine into orange juice. Love her anyway.
• The Prosecco pragmatist. Buys a case for the party and one good Champagne for the speech. The smartest person here.
• The label snob. Will only drink it if it’s French. Will drink four glasses of your Prosecco and ask where you found it.
• The undecided. Standing between the two with a phone open to this page. Hello.

How to choose a good Prosecco, without knowing a single brand

1. Look for DOC or DOCG on the label. It means the wine comes from the protected area and passed its checks. What DOC means.
2. Pick your sweetness on purpose: Brut if you like it crisp, Extra Dry if you like it soft.
3. Buy it fresh, from a shop that sells a lot of it. Prosecco is made to be drunk young.
4. For a dinner party’s main bottle, try a Superiore DOCG from the hills. For everything else, a good DOC Brut does the job.