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What's the best Prosecco to buy?

The best Prosecco to buy is the one that fits your taste and your table. Look for Prosecco D.O.C. on the label, choose Brut if you like it dry or Extra Dry if you like it softer, and expect real quality around twenty dollars. Then ask whether the bottle looks the part.

Start with the label: Prosecco D.O.C.

Real Prosecco comes from a defined area of northeast Italy, and the label tells you so. Look for Prosecco D.O.C. (or D.O.C.G. for the hill zones) on the bottle, near the word Prosecco itself. If a bottle only says “sparkling wine” or uses an Italian-sounding name without it, it is not Prosecco.

For more ways to spot the real thing, see how to know if your Prosecco is authentic on prosecco.com.

Brut or Extra Dry: pick your sweetness

The names are confusing, because Extra Dry is actually the sweeter of the two.

• Brut is the drier style: crisp, fresh and good with food, spritzes and orange-juice mimosas.
• Extra Dry is a little softer and rounder, for people who find dry wines sharp.

If you are buying for a group and do not know their taste, Brut is the safer all-rounder. It works on its own, with food and in cocktails.

What around twenty dollars should get you

You do not need to spend a fortune. Around twenty dollars, a good Prosecco D.O.C. should give you fruit you can name, fine bubbles that last, and a clean finish. Below that, quality is more hit and miss. Above it, you are often paying for a special site or a name.

Taste is the final test. Pour a glass a little cooler than you think, and see whether the second sip is as good as the first.

The gift test

Prosecco is often bought for someone else, so the bottle matters. Ask yourself: would I be pleased to hand this over? A bottle that looks generous says you thought about it, before anyone has opened it. Then check it will suit the moment: a dry Brut for dinner, a rosé for brunch or a birthday.

For more on choosing a bottle to give, see whether Prosecco makes a good gift on prosecco.com.

Where Bella Principessa fits

We made Bella Principessa to pass all four tests. Both wines are Prosecco D.O.C. Brut, made with a fourth-generation winery in the Veneto from Glera grapes picked by hand in the hills of Treviso.

• The Brut: dry and crisp, with green apple, pear and a squeeze of citrus.
• The Rosé Brut: dry and pink, with strawberry, raspberry and ripe peach.

The bottle is painted with flowers and butterflies, with no paper label and no sticker, so it passes the gift test on sight. The suggested retail price is $20.99, and retailers set their own prices. If you prefer a sweeter style, an Extra Dry may suit you better, and that is fine too.