Champagne vs Prosecco: What’s the difference?

Champagne and Prosecco are two of the world's premier sparkling wines and they have some elements in common, but also important differences.

Geographical location, permitted grape varieties, production method and flavour profile all play a role in understanding these two wine styles.

Champagne comes from the eponymous region of northern France, to the east of Paris, while Prosecco is from the northeastern Italian regions of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia, for instance.

What Champagne and Prosecco have in common

Let’s start with some similarities.

Both Champagne and Prosecco are permitted to make rosé sparkling wines; although Prosecco Rosé was only approved in May 2020.

Both are part of France and Italy's respective appellation (denomination) systems – ultimately overseen at EU level.

Vineyards have also been recognised by UNESCO as World Heritage sites. Champagne saw its hillsides, houses and cellars listed by the United Nations body in 2015.

Four years later, UNESCO listed the hillside area in north-east Italy that includes the winegrowing landscape of Prosecco DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita): 'Le Colline del Prosecco di Conegliano e Valdobbiadene'.

Champagne and Prosecco grape varieties

Champagne can be a blend or single varietal wine, and the region's dominant grape varieties are Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.

There are eight varieties permitted in total. These include Arbane, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris, with 'Chardonnay Rose' joining the club last year.

Prosecco is made principally from the Glera grape variety, which must make up at least 85% of the blend.

The variety used to be called 'Prosecco' but its name was officially recognised as Glera in 2009, when the current Prosecco DOC and DOCG zones came into being and were recognised under the EU's Geographic Indications (GI) system.

The move caused a certain amount of controversy in other parts of the world.

Champagne and Prosecco: Production methods

Another key difference between these two wines is how they are made, particularly in terms of how the bubbles are created.

For both Champagne and Prosecco, the base (still) wine undergoes a second fermentation, creating the CO₂ that gives the sparkle.

Champagne is known for the traditional method, while Prosecco is generally produced using the 'tank method'.

In Champagne, the méthode Champenoise or ‘traditional method’ sees the base wine bottled along with yeast and sugars (liqueur de tirage), causing the second fermentation to happen in the bottle.

The wine is then left in contact with the dead yeast cells, so that it can mature. For a non-vintage Champagne the minimum time is 12 months (plus three further months ageing post disgorgement), whereas vintage Champagne must spend three years on its lees.

After this, the yeast needs to be removed. The riddling process rotates and tilts the bottle in small increments so that the sediment collects at the neck.

The neck of the bottle is then frozen and the dead yeast cells released – a process called ‘disgorgement’. Liqueur d’expedition (a mixture of wine and sugar) is used to top up and balance the final wine, in a process known as dosage.

By contrast, many Prosecco producers employ the tank method for the second fermentation.

Rather than being bottled, the base wine is placed in a pressurised tank to which sugar and yeast are added. CO₂ is created and the wine is then filtered to remove the sediment before dosage and bottling.

Champagne and Prosecco: Flavour profiles

These two methods of production can result in quite different flavour profiles for these wines.

The extended contact with the yeast in the traditional method can produce more autolytic flavours – bread, brioche and toast – in some Champagnes, for instance.

The yeast has less of an influence on Prosecco made with the tank method, because there is no extended lees contact.

Most Prosecco is more about the fruit flavour profile of the Glera grape – associated with pear, apple, honeysuckle and floral notes.

However, the wine world often defies generalisations.

Some top Prosecco styles are made with the traditional method or undergo lees ageing, which can result in a more complex wine.

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