What actually changes when you drink it
The short answer is pressure, and the thresholds are set by EU wine regulation rather than by taste. A spumante carries at least 3 bar of pressure inside the bottle; a frizzante stops between 1 and 2.5. In practice: opening a spumante gives you the decisive pop, the bubbles climb fast and dense, and the mouth gets something lively, almost prickly. A frizzante is calmer, with larger and less persistent bubbles and a gentle pressure on the palate.
These are Italian legal categories rather than descriptions, which is the part that catches people out. Elsewhere sparkling wine tends to be one thing with a scale of quality; in Italy the label is telling you which of two defined products you are buying.
Compare a frizzante Prosecco DOC against a spumante Prosecco Superiore DOCG from Conegliano Valdobbiadene. Same grape, same broad area, and in the mouth they behave like two different wines. The spumante carries a whole meal; the frizzante belongs at the start of the evening or with light summer food.
One practical note: an open spumante loses its bubbles within a few hours even with a stopper, so it is not a bottle to half-finish.
Perlage is a thing you can see, not just an elegant word
Perlage is the column of bubbles rising from the base of the glass. The finer, more continuous and more persistent it is, the better the wine tends to be. This is not mystique: bubbles form around microscopic imperfections in the glass, and their size depends on how the wine was made.
Classic method wines, Franciacorta or Trento DOC, have very fine perlage because the second fermentation happens inside the bottle with long contact with the yeasts. The bubbles are tiny, almost creamy. Tank method wines ferment a second time in large pressurised vessels: bigger bubbles, livelier, less persistent. Neither is better in the abstract. It depends what you are drinking it with.
A detail few people mention: the glass matters. A narrow flute concentrates the perlage and sends it straight up, and it also compresses the aromas. A wider tulip shows less of the column and gives you far more of the smell, which is why serious sparkling is increasingly poured into something closer to a white wine glass.
The Italian sparkling wines you will meet
Italy makes sparkling wine in almost every region and the variety is disorienting. The names that come up most often:
Prosecco is Glera from the Veneto and Friuli, frizzante or spumante, light and floral, made for the start of an evening. Franciacorta is Lombardy's classic method wine, vintage or not, with a complexity that handles risotto or baked fish. Trento DOC comes from the Alps, usually Pinot Noir and Chardonnay by classic method, more vertical and more mineral.
Then Lambrusco, which is underrated almost everywhere outside Emilia. It is a red frizzante, dry or off-dry, and it is exceptional with cured pork and the flatbreads served alongside it. And Asti, sweet and low in alcohol, which works with fruit desserts.
Worth knowing for anyone shopping abroad: Prosecco and Asti are everywhere, Franciacorta and Trento DOC need a decent wine shop, and the good dry Lambrusco is the hardest of the four to find outside Italy because the export market was built on the sweet version.
Domande frequenti
What is the main difference between spumante and frizzante?
Internal pressure, as defined by EU wine regulation. A spumante is at least 3 bar, a frizzante sits between 1 and 2.5. You notice it immediately: the spumante is livelier and sharper, the frizzante softer and gentler.
Does fine perlage always mean a better wine?
Generally it points to a slower, more controlled fermentation, typical of the classic method. An excellent tank-method Prosecco with coarser bubbles will still beat a poor classic-method wine. The method is a clue, not a guarantee.
Can I use any glass for sparkling wine?
You can, and a wider tulip shows the aromas far better than a narrow flute. For good classic-method wine the glass is worth thinking about. For a frizzante Lambrusco at the table, an ordinary glass is fine.
Is frizzante worse for you than spumante?
No. The pressure difference has nothing to do with it. As with any wine, the quantity is the only part that matters.
How do I tell whether a Prosecco is frizzante or spumante?
The label says so explicitly, in those words. Prosecco DOC is often frizzante, while Prosecco Superiore DOCG tends to be spumante. If the label is ambiguous, the back label or the technical sheet gives the pressure.
Can I order Italian sparkling wine from outside Italy?
Prosecco and Asti are stocked everywhere. Franciacorta and Trento DOC are widely available through specialists, and dry Lambrusco is the one worth asking an importer about. The shop linked on this page ships within Italy only, so if you are ordering from outside Italy it cannot deliver to you.