The best prosecco taste tested 2023 (2024)

Most proseccos are simple wines. Don’t be afraid to mix them with peach juice to make a bellini, turn it into a spritz or add lemon sorbet and vodka for a sgroppino.

But, what makes a good prosecco? We've rounded-up the top bottles to find a prosecco to suit everybody, from the best budget proseccos, to pink prosecco or bottles that are perfect for co*cktails. All the bottles below have been taste tested by wine writer Henry Jeffreys. Henry is a drinks and wine writer who writes for Master of Malt, and his work has appeared in the The Guardian, The Spectator and The Financial Times. He is the author of Empire of Booze: British History through the Bottom of a Glass, which won best debut drink book at the Fortnum & Mason 2017 Awards. He also curates the wine choices for the BBC Good Food Wine Club in association with Laithwaites, and has previously written drinks guides for BBC Good Food, covering all forms of fizz, including the best cava, best English sparkling wines and best champagne. Read on to discover which prosecco is best.

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Jump to link:

• Best prosecco at a glance
• How we tasted prosecco
• What is the best prosecco?
• What is prosecco?
• How to open prosecco
• Best prosecco glasses
• Prosecco co*cktail recipes

Best prosecco at a glance:

• Best everyday rosé prosecco: Tesco Finest prosecco rosé 2020, £8
• Best for parties: Tesco Finest prosecco superiore, £9.50
• Best prosecco for showing off: The Emmisary prosecco rosé brut, £18.35
• Best prosecco for entertaining: The Wine Society prosecco brut NV, £10.44
• Best prosecco for complexity of flavour: Sacchetto prosecco extra dry Fili NV, £15.20
• Best crowd-pleasing prosecco: Sainsbury's Taste the Difference prosecco di Conegliano brut 2016, £10
• Best easy drinking prosecco: Romeo & Juliet prosecco di Treviso brut DOC NV, £9.99
• Best off-dry prosecco: Cinzano prosecco, £8.99
• Best prosecco with a twist: Casa Belfi prosecco colfondo frizzante NV, £17.69
• Best prosecco with seafood: Villa Marcello prosecco brut 2020, £20

How we tasted prosecco

Our prosecco taste test covered over 15 bottles, aiming to find the best example of a good prosecco. In a good prosecco, we’re looking for clean, fresh fruit flavours like green apple, peach or citrus, and often some floral notes, too. With very top-quality prosecco, you might also notice flavours of almonds and biscuity, champagne-like notes. A lower-quality or poor example of a prosecco may taste sugary or artificial, so these were marked down and not included. Prosecco is naturally sweeter, but there should be enough acidity to balance the sugar.

What is the best prosecco to buy in 2023?

Tesco's Finest prosecco rosé 2020

• Available from Tesco (£8)

Best everyday rosé prosecco
Star rating: 3/5

It was only recently that pink prosecco was allowed by the Italian wine authorities. The colour comes from adding a little pinot noir to the native glera grape. There’s a lot of bad pink prosecco, but this one really impressed – it’s more than just pretty to look at! It has a bitter cherry and orange edge and pleasant floral finish.

More like this

Available from:
Tesco (£8)

Tesco Finest prosecco superiore

• Available from Tesco (£9.50)

Best for parties
Star rating: 3/5

Prosecco Superiore is a cut above the ordinary stuff, as the name suggests. This is grape-y and lemony – just the thing to get in bulk for parties. It has a refreshing quality that's lacking in most supermarket proseccos, which will have everyone reaching for another glass.

Available from:
Tesco (£9.50)

The Emmissary prosecco rosé brut

• Available from Amazon (£18.35)

Best prosecco for showing off
Star rating: 4/5

With its clear glass bottle and gold label, this prosecco will appeal to those looking to show off (or post their bottle on Instagram). Happily, the contents within live up to the glitzy packaging. This has a delicious orange sherbet quality, combined with ripe strawberries and a creamy texture.

Available from:
Amazon (£18.35)

The Wine Society prosecco brut NV

• Available from The Wine Society (£10.44)

Best prosecco for entertaining

Prosecco is actually a much better drink than champagne to serve at events such as weddings, as it's cheaper, lower in alcohol and much less acidic, so it's easier to drink. This dry, refreshing sparkler would be our pick for entertaining.

Available from:
The Wine Society (£10.44)

Taste the Difference prosecco di Conegliano brut

• Available from Sainsbury’s (£9.75)

Best crowd-pleasing prosecco

Most prosecco is non-vintage, but this one comes from a specific year. We loved the mixture of very fresh fruit and floral notes with a finish that was a little sweet and cakey.

Available from:
Sainsbury’s (£9.75)

Sacchetto prosecco extra dry Fili NV

• Available from VINVM (£15.20)

Best prosecco for complexity of flavour

There’s lots going on with this one. It initially tastes quite sweet but finishes with a dry and refreshing flavour. There’s a nice saline quality with peachy fruit and even a touch of toastiness at the end.

Available from:
VINVM (£15.20)

Romeo & Juliet prosecco di Treviso brut DOC NV

• Available from Majestic Wine (£12.99)
  

Best easy drinking prosecco

Brut-style, and you can really taste it. There are pastry notes on the nose, then on the palate it's really dry with some bitter lemon and almonds. It's a really nice prosecco that's easy to drink.

Available from:
Majestic Wine (£12.99)

Cinzano prosecco

• Available from Amazon (£8.99), The Bottle Club (£9.49), Drink Supermarket (£10.49), Milroy’s (£9.95)

Best off-dry prosecco
Rating: 3/5

Cinzano doesn’t just make vermouth, but also a range of wines like this prosecco. If you like your fizz a little on the sweet side, then look no further. This would be extremely nice with some lemon drizzle cake or mixed in an Aperol spritz.

Available from:
Amazon (£8.99)
The Bottle Club (£9.49)
Drink Supermarket (£10.49)
Milroy’s (£9.95)

Casa Belfi prosecco colfondo frizzante NV

• Available from Hay Wines (£17.69)

Best prosecco with a twist

This is a very different to regular prosecco. The term ‘colfondo’ means that it's fermented in the bottle and the yeast is left in the wine, which makes it cloudy. It’s totally dry with nutty, bready flavours. Not one to add peach juice to and don’t serve too cold.

Available from:
Hay Wines (£16.99)

Villa Marcello prosecco brut 2020

• Available from Petersham Wine Cellars (£20), Harvey Nichols (£40, magnum)

Best prosecco with seafood
Rating: 4/5

This is a world away from sweet and simple prosecco. It’s dry, saline and lemony initially, but fills out with food, particularly shellfish, and you will start to notice a distinct nuttiness. This is a superior prosecco.

Available from:
Petersham Wine Cellars (£20)
Harvey Nichols (£40, magnum)

What is prosecco?

People often ask what the difference is between prosecco and champagne. Well, they’re both sparkling wines from specific regions: Champagne in northern France, and Treviso in north-eastern Italy, but there the similarities end. Champagne is dry, highly acidic and usually expensive, whereas its Italian rival is soft, sweetish and affordable – no wonder it's so popular.

Part of the difference in price is down to prosecco’s production method. To make champagne and most sparkling wines, a still wine is fermented for a second time in the bottle with added yeast and sugar, which creates carbon dioxide – aka fizz.

In prosecco, this secondary fermentation takes place in a tank, then the wines are filtered and bottled under pressure. This method is less labour intensive – unlike champagne, which has to be aged for a minimum of 15 months – so prosecco can be sold straight away. Not only is this method cheaper, it preserves fresh fruit flavours, too. This is the fundamental difference between the two wines: champagne tastes of mature yeasty flavours, whereas prosecco should be all about fresh fruit. The term frizzante on the label, as opposed to spumante, means the wine is less fizzy.

Only wines from the Prosecco region, not far from Venice, can be called prosecco. The principal grape is called glera, but it used to be called prosecco, before the wily Italians changed the name so that the Australians couldn’t use the magic word prosecco on their bottles. Prosecco tends to be much sweeter than champagne. Confusingly, wines labelled dry are actually quite sweet. Extra dry is drier, though it still contains between 12-17g of sugar. If you want a proper dry wine, look for the word 'brut' on the label.

In a good prosecco, you'll often find green apple, peach or citrus flavours and often some floral notes, too. With better examples, you may notice flavours of almonds and biscuity champagne-like notes. Don’t be afraid to mix it with peach juice to make a bellini, Aperol or Campari to make a spritz or, most hedonistic of all, lemon ice cream and vodka, which is called a sgroppino. Our version, icy kir, swaps the ice cream for berry sorbet.

How to open prosecco

When opening a bottle of prosecco, remember it will behave far better and more predictably if it has been left to sit and chill for a few hours. Warmth and/or rough handling both make for an explosive cork situation, meaning more mess and waste. Fizz should go into glasses, not onto ceilings.

• Make sure you have your glasses ready and within easy reach. Then, take your bottle and remove the foil; there should be a tag or perforation line to make this easy and neat.
• Once this is done, grip the neck of the bottle in one hand with your thumb over the top of the caged cork.
• From here on in, keep the bottle pointed away from yourself and anyone present, especially people's faces – about a 45 degree angle is good.
• With your other hand, untwirl the cage fastening. Uncover your thumb, lift off the cage and replace your thumb over the cork.
• If you can feel the cork pushing to leave the bottle already, get a glass ready. Otherwise, with the bottle gripped in one hand, slowly pull up the cork with the other. It may be quite stiff at first – if so, alternate pulling and twisting motions – but as you go you'll start to feel the pressure from within helping you out.
• Ease it up, always with your hand over the cork in a firm grip and, as you hear a pop, you know you've opened it.

If everything went smoothly, you have a bottle at 45 degrees, with a touch of vapour wafting out. Let that excess gas escape for a few seconds, then in smooth, gentle motions, pour a small amount – just a splash – into each glass in turn.

Now return to the first glass and, tilting it also at around 45 degrees, top up slowly, until no more than two-thirds full.

If the champagne is very lively and the mousse is rising to the top of the glass despite a slow pour, just move onto the next one and come back to it. That mousse is the fizz escaping, and in excess, leaves you with a flat drink, and nobody wants that.

Don't overfill the glass, as it will warm up far faster there than in the bottle, and warm prosecco is a shame.

If you have a bottle where the cork is straining to be free as soon as the cage is removed, then you will have to move fast.

Once the cork is out, it will be followed by froth, which should go straight into that readied glass. Keep pouring off the excess into your glasses one by one until it subsides, then top up as before.

Best prosecco glasses

Prosecco Crystal Flutes

• Available from Wayfair (£20.40/set of 2)

These prosecco glasses are a combination between a flute and wine glass, with an almost diamond-shape that allows the sweet aromas of the prosecco to reach your nose, but with a tapered top that means all of the bubbles won't escape. These are made from sturdy crystal glass, but can only be washed by hand.

Available from:
Wayfair (£20.40/set of 2)

VonShef grey tinted champagne glasses

• Available from Amazon (£14.99/set of 4)

These glasses have a classic fluted design that allows the bubbles and aroma to fully develop. They also have a smoked, grey tinted finish that adds a modern touch to their more traditional look. These glasses are lightweight and come in a gift box, making them a thoughtful wedding or house-warming gift.

Available from:
Amazon (£14.99/set of 4)

Luigi Bormioli Optica champagne coupe glasses

• Available from M&S (£46/set of 4)

Made in Italy, these champagne glasses have pinstripe indentations, creating a retro, art deco look, with long stems that will keep your prosecco cooler for longer. As they have a more rounded bowl shape, they can also be used to serve desserts, and are dishwasher-safe for easy cleaning.

Available from:
M&S (£46/set of 4)

Prosecco co*cktail recipes

A bottle of prosecco is celebratory enough to drink on its own, but it’s also a versatile addition to co*cktails. Classic prosecco co*cktail recipes include an Aperol spritz or passion fruit martini. Make a jug of apple prosecco punch to feed a crowd, try a sweet peach & rose fizz in summer or pair with coconut and rum in a tropical coco fizz. There are more than just co*cktails, too: a box of homemade prosecco truffles make a great edible gift, while this showstopping prosecco cake recipe is the perfect birthday party centrepiece for a prosecco fan.

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