Champagne starts at forty euros and climbs from there. Below that line sits a much larger field where you actually have a choice, and where the gap between a good and a mediocre bottle hits harder than it does higher up. These are the affordable sparkling wines I tasted myself over the past eighteen months, with the price I paid or the price on the bottle. If you only want one: the Barth Riesling Brut at 19.95 euros, because it is the only one here that follows the champagne method without the champagne price.
The eight side by side
| Bottle | Style and origin | Price | Who it’s for | How this bottle reached me |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kolonne Null Spritz Studio Italiano | Alcohol-free spritz, 0.0 percent | 8.99 euros, checked 11 August 2026. It was 7.90 when I tasted it | Anyone joining in without drinking who still wants something with flavour in hand | Press sample, no payment |
| Black Muscat of Tirnavos | Semi-sparkling from Thessaly, Greece | 16.50 euros | Anyone after sweeter notes with seafood or as an aperitif | Paid partnership |
| 900wine Gran Cuvée Blanc de Blancs | Prosecco from Italy, tank method, 11 percent | 16.99 euros | Anyone who drinks prosecco for the fruit rather than the complexity | Press sample, no payment |
| Domaine François Schwach Blanc de Blancs | Crémant d’Alsace, bottle fermentation, organic | 17.95 euros when I tasted it. Sold out at the Dutch retailer as of 11 August 2026; the same house’s Blanc de Noirs is listed at 19.95 | Anyone who wants the champagne method at a third of the price | Press sample, no payment |
| Wein- und Sektgut Barth Riesling Brut | Sekt from the Rheingau, bottle fermentation, 24 months on the lees, organic and vegan | 19.95 euros | Anyone after aging and tension who doesn’t mind Riesling | Bought myself, no relationship with the producer |
| 900wine Valdobbiadene DOCG Millesimato | Prosecco Superiore DOCG from Italy, 11 percent | 27.99 euros | Anyone wanting to know whether pricier prosecco delivers more | Press sample, no payment |
| Wijndomein De Boe Rosé Brut 2024 | Dutch sparkling from Zeeland, eleven months on the lees, 12.4 percent | 28 euros | Anyone curious about what grows in the Netherlands | Press sample, no payment |
| Domein Holset Rosé Brut 2022 | South Limburg, 75 percent chardonnay and 25 percent pinot noir on limestone | 32.50 euros | Anyone after the Dutch top end and champagne-like structure | Bought myself, no relationship with the producer |
That last column is not decoration. Read the caveat at the bottom before you take this list as objective.
What to weigh under 40 euros
Which method is in the bottle? This is the difference you taste most. Bottle fermentation gives finer bubbles and bready notes from lees aging; the tank method keeps fruit and flowers up front and works faster. The crémant, the Sekt and the Dutch bottles here take the first route, prosecco the second. Neither is better, they are different. The per-style explanation sits in the guide on champagne and other sparkling wines.
How long did it sit on the lees? Under 40 euros this is the cleanest indicator of effort. Barth sits for 24 months, De Boe for eleven. You hear that back in the texture, not in the fruit.
Are you paying for the wine or for the name? With crémant and Sekt you mostly pay for the wine. With prosecco DOCG you partly pay for the classification. That is not an accusation, but it explains how an 18-euro crémant and a 28-euro prosecco can end up level without the pricier one winning.
What are you drinking it with? A sweeter, semi-sparkling wine wins with seafood and spicy dishes. Dry bottle-fermented wine wins with fried snacks, aged cheese and at the table.
Under 20 euros
This is where the value per euro is highest, and where the disappointment is too.
The Crémant d’Alsace from Domaine François Schwach was the sharpest buy here: the same method as champagne, organically worked, at 17.95. I put it next to champagne at the time, and the difference sits in aging and length, not in technique. On checking on 11 August 2026 it turned out to be sold out at the Dutch retailer. The same house’s Blanc de Noirs is still listed, but that is a different wine and I have not tasted it.
The Barth Riesling Brut from the Rheingau is my pick of the eight. Twenty-four months on the lees for 19.95 euros is a ratio you rarely see, and Riesling brings an acid line most prosecco lacks. German Sekt has an image problem in the Netherlands that this bottle does not deserve.
The 900wine Gran Cuvée does what prosecco is supposed to do, and no more. At 16.99 that is not a criticism.
Between 20 and 40 euros
The choice gets more interesting here, because this is where Dutch wine appears.
Wijndomein De Boe in Zeeland made a 2024 that sat eleven months on the lees instead of nine. That difference is tastable. I also wrote down what still doesn’t add up about the label, and that has not changed.
Domein Holset in South Limburg sits at the top of this list at 32.50 and is the only one with limestone under the vineyard, which shows in the structure.
The 900wine Valdobbiadene DOCG at 27.99 is the priciest prosecco I tasted and mainly answers whether pricier prosecco gives you more. That answer is in the piece itself.
And if you’re not drinking
The Kolonne Null Spritz is not wine and does not pretend to be. It is an alcohol-free spritz that has the bitter and the herbal well in hand. Where the compromise sits is in the piece itself.
Two things this list doesn’t tell you
Five of the eight bottles were sent to me. Four as press samples without payment, one as a paid partnership. That colours any list of this kind, including this one: what nobody sends, I don’t taste, and what I don’t taste isn’t here. Note that the two bottles I bought myself, Barth and Holset, are also the two I recommend without hesitation. That is not a coincidence, but it isn’t proof either.
There is no champagne in it. Not because champagne isn’t worth it, but because the entry price for a decent bottle sits above this line. Anyone seeing champagne under 40 euros is almost always buying volume champagne from a large house, and an 18-euro crémant is often the better buy. I ran that comparison earlier in the guide on crémant versus champagne.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best sparkling wine under 20 euros?
The Barth Riesling Brut at 19.95 euros. It follows the champagne method, sits 24 months on the lees and is organic. If you want to stay inside the French tradition, the Crémant d’Alsace from Schwach at 17.95 is the sharpest buy.
Is 28-euro prosecco better than 17-euro prosecco?
Not automatically. The DOCG classification says something about origin and yield, not about whether you taste the difference. I put both bottles from the same producer side by side and the gap was smaller than the price gap suggests.
Can you buy good champagne under 40 euros?
Rarely. Below that line you mostly find volume champagne from large houses, which means you are largely buying the name. For the same money a crémant or a good Sekt gives you more wine in the glass.
Which Dutch sparkling wine is worth it?
Domein Holset in South Limburg at 32.50 euros and Wijndomein De Boe in Zeeland at 28 euros. The first has limestone and more structure, the second shows what eleven months on the lees does compared with nine.
Sources
- Primary source: my own tasting notes on the eight bottles named here, published on vinovonk.com between January 2025 and August 2026. Every bottle is linked above.
- Price check 11 August 2026: five of the eight bottles were re-checked with the seller. Barth, De Boe and Domein Holset stand unchanged at 19.95, 28 and 32.50. Kolonne Null rose from 7.90 to 8.99. The Schwach Blanc de Blancs turned out to be sold out.
- Not re-checked: the two 900wine cuvées and the Black Muscat of Tirnavos. These do not go through regular retail, so the price from the review still stands for them. Expect it to differ.