Serve Prosecco chilled in a clean tulip-shaped or white-wine glass. Open the bottle slowly, keeping control of the cork and pointing it away from people. Pour gently and keep the bottle cold between servings. The wine can make an entrance without the cork doing so.
The bottle is ready, the glasses are out and someone has offered to open it with more enthusiasm than you would like near the lampshade. This is a good moment for a quieter technique.
Serving Prosecco well begins before the cork moves: chill the wine, choose clean glasses and leave yourself enough space to open the bottle safely. You can make the table beautiful without making the opening theatrical.
Start with a chilled bottle
Follow the producer's serving advice where available. For Prosecco Superiore, the Conegliano Valdobbiadene consortium recommends 6–8°C, about 43–46°F. Our Prosecco serving temperature guide explains the scope of that recommendation.
A tulip-shaped glass is a good option for appreciating aromas. A clean white-wine glass is a practical alternative if that is what you have. There is more detail in our Prosecco glass guide.
Open a cork-and-cage bottle carefully
Keep the bottle pointed away from yourself and everyone else. Maintain control of the cork while loosening the wire cage. Tilt the bottle about 30–45 degrees, hold the cork firmly and turn the bottle slowly, easing the cork out under control. Do not shake the bottle or let the cork fly.
The Comité Champagne describes this controlled opening technique for sparkling wine in its serving guidance. It is useful here as an opening method, not as a claim that Prosecco and Champagne are the same wine.
Pour gently and leave room in the glass
Pour slowly, allowing the foam to settle. Keep the remaining wine chilled between pours and open the next bottle when needed. Set out water and an alcohol-free option too, so everyone can choose what suits them.
If you are offering Bella Principessa white Brut and rosé Brut, tell guests which is which before pouring. It gives them a useful choice and saves you guessing from a raised glass. For the food, the Prosecco food-pairing guide is a useful place to start.
If there is wine left afterwards, our keeping Prosecco after opening guide covers refrigeration and a proper sparkling-wine stopper.
If you are making spritzes rather than pouring it on its own, see using Prosecco in cocktails for the separate mixing advice.
How should Prosecco rosé be served?
Serve Prosecco rosé chilled, following the producer's serving advice for that bottle. Choose a clean tulip-shaped or white-wine glass, open the bottle under control and keep it cold between pours. The same careful opening and pouring steps above apply when you are serving rosé.
Sources
Prosecco Superiore storage and service; Comité Champagne serving guidance.
