Prosecco vs Champagne: Bella Principessa Publishes a Guide to Comparing Like With Like

Ahead of holiday and Dry January coverage, the Prosecco brand publishes a reference guide to the sweetness labels on Prosecco and Champagne.

MIAMI, FL, UNITED STATES, November 2, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Bella Principessa Prosecco has published The Brut Truth, a reference guide for journalists covering holiday wine and Dry January. It sets out the sweetness terms on Prosecco and Champagne labels, with charts, label comparisons and sources, and asks writers to compare the two wines by matching sweetness style: Brut with Brut.

The guide is published at https://prosecco.com/blog/the-brut-truth-prosecco-sweetness/ The sweetness guide also answers common objections from Champagne and Prosecco enthusiasts.

Each year from November through January, sparkling wine coverage returns to the same comparison: Prosecco against Champagne, often framed around sugar, health and taste. In 2017, UK coverage linked Prosecco to tooth damage.

Prosecco and Champagne carry the same sweetness terms on the label, set by European Union wine labelling rules. Brut Nature has less than 3 grams of sugar per liter, Extra Brut up to 6, and Brut under 12. Extra Dry has 12 to 17 grams per liter, Dry 17 to 32, and Demi-Sec 32 to 50.

The order is counterintuitive: Extra Dry is sweeter than Brut. A comparison that sets an Extra Dry Prosecco against a Brut Champagne compares two sweetness styles, not two wines. Brut Prosecco and Brut Champagne sit in the same sugar range.

In dry sparkling wine, most calories come from alcohol rather than sugar. Prosecco DOC is typically around 11% alcohol by volume, and Champagne around 12%.

Sugar is not the only factor in how sweet a sparkling wine tastes. Aroma and acidity also shape perceived sweetness, which is why two wines with the same sugar can taste different.

According to the winery's laboratory analysis, both Bella Principessa wines, Prosecco DOC Brut and Prosecco DOC Rosé Brut, contain 12 grams of residual sugar per liter at 11% alcohol by volume. The Brut measures 69 calories per 100 mL, or approximately 102 calories in a standard 5-ounce (148 mL) glass.

"Every holiday season the same story comes back: Champagne for the people who know when to stop, Prosecco for the people who don't," said Michael Goldstein, founder and creative director of Bella Principessa. "It's the Empire against the rebels, with sweetness cast as the villain. But most of those articles set a sweet Prosecco against a Brut Champagne. Compare Brut with Brut and the gap mostly disappears."

"Journalists are going to write these stories, as they do every year," Goldstein said. "This is about Prosecco, not just Bella Principessa. Every Champagne snob will tell you grams aren't the whole story, and they're right. But the label is where the story starts. We want writers to have the facts on the label before they do."

"Anyone can strip the sugar out of a wine. It gets thinner, and duller," Goldstein said. "We make Bella Principessa right on the line between Brut and Extra Dry, because that's where the fruit and the aroma live, and it's still Brut."

"Wine isn't a virtue test," he added. "If you like sweet, drink sweet. If you prefer dry, choose dry. If you care about calories, learn the style instead of the stereotype. Our job as a Prosecco brand is to elevate the category, not argue at the bottom of it."

Bella Principessa Prosecco is produced in northeastern Italy under the Prosecco DOC designation and comes in two Brut styles, Prosecco DOC Brut and Prosecco DOC Rosé Brut, in ceramic-painted bottles carrying the words "Happier Ever After."

In Florida, Bella Principessa is available at selected Total Wine & More stores and independent retailers. Florida stockist details are available at prosecco.com.

Samples, the winery's analysis, high-resolution images and interviews with Michael Goldstein are available to journalists on request through the press contact below.

About Bella Principessa Prosecco
Bella Principessa is an Italian Prosecco brand made by a fourth-generation winery and presented in ceramic-painted bottles. Available in Prosecco DOC Brut and Prosecco DOC Rosé Brut, each bottle carries the words "Happier Ever After." Learn more at prosecco.com. Press releases about Bella Principessa Prosecco are issued by Best Drinks Inc.

Press Office
Best Drinks Inc.
press@prosecco.com
Visit us on social media:
LinkedIn
Instagram
YouTube

Bella Principessa Prosecco