How Sweet It Is:   Six Degrees of Champagne   By Dr. Timothy Smith & David L. Sirois

         The other day I brought a bottle of Brut champagne up to the counter at my local liquor store and paid for it.   The cute cashier looked closely at the wine and said, “I’ve worked at other liquor stores, but this place is different.   We don’t sell much liquor here just beer and wine…a lot of beer and wine.   So I’ve been thinking that I would like to get into wine, but I don’t know much about it.   I have a couple of bottles of red wine that friends gave me that just sit in my kitchen window.”

            “What kinds of wines have you tried before?” I asked.

            “I don’t know, but I can tell you I don’t like the dry wines.   They make my mouth dry and my throat sore.   I like something sweet,” she declared with a smile.   Is this champagne sweet? I would like to try some champagne, maybe.”

            I pointed to the label and said that when you see “Brut” on the label that means the champagne is dry and that if you want something sweeter look for the words “Extra Dry” or “Dry” or “Sec”.

            She looked at me, a little disappointed and confused and said, “No, I said that I would like something sweeter not even dryer.”

            “I know that this doesn’t make much sense but that is how champagnes and sparkling wines in general are labeled.”

            “Thanks, I’ll take you word for it and try one out. And have a good night,” she concluded.

            It clicked for me after my conversation why the terms describing champagne sweetness seem confusingly out of order.   Champagne began as a sweet wine—sweetened with added sugar.   Over time tastes changed and pressure from international markets asked for dryer wines with less added sugar.   As the sweetness decreased, the new champagnes were designated “Dry” even “Extra Dry” in relation to the original sweetness until tastes approached the Brut or literally the raw or unadulterated state.  

            It was not long into my research on what was to be a breezy piece on the definitions of the terms found on champagne labels that Brut, Demi-Sec and Doux were not just simply terms to be defined, but signifiers of even broader historical, cultural, and even international tastes and mores.   Quickly, my co-author, David Sirois, and I came to see much adventure in simply examining six degrees of champagne sweetness.

            Champagnes vary from the extremely dry “Ultra Bruts” to the dizzyingly sweet “Doux”.   The wide variety of sweetness levels available today reveal the complex influences of cultural taste preferences from worldwide markets for champagne.   Champagne has evolved, sometimes grudgingly, with the tastes of its international customers as well as the evolution of tastes within France.   This feature will introduce you to the history of adding sugar to champagne during production, to six legally defined levels of sweetness in champagne and hopefully fill your head with interesting anecdotes on how sweetness in champagne has evolved.

Sugar Supplementation

            The Champagne region faces difficult growing conditions lying at the northernmost limit of economically viable wine producing land in Europe.   The northern position of Champagne limits the number of days in the growing season that reach the crucial 50° F that grapes need to grow sufficiently to make quality wine.   A quality wine needs enough sugar. At harvest, sugar comprises 15-27% of a grapes weight.   Too little sugar precludes complete fermentation. Fermentation converts this sugar to alcohol and any sugar left over from fermentation gives wine its sweetness.   In Champagne, even in good years, the grapes at harvest may not contain enough sugar for the wine to complete sufficient fermentation and produce the appropriate taste resulting in an acidic, tart wine.   To compensate for low sugar levels in the grapes the resourceful vintners of Champagne may put sugar into their wine at three stages of production designated “chaptalisation”, “liqueur de tirage”, and “liqueur d’expédition”.   The first two additions affect the alcohol level and bubblyness of the wine, and the final addition establishes the sweetness of the champagne.

Chaptalisation -this is the practice of adding sugar to the must or freshly pressed grape juice before the first fermentation.   Chaptalisation increases the alcohol content of the wine if the grapes do not naturally have enough sugar to produce the desired alcohol level.   The process get its name from Jean-Antoin Chaptal (1756-1832) who strenuously supported this practice in French wine making as the Minister of the Interior under Napoleon from 1800 to 1805.   However, he was not the first to suggest the practice.   In fact, Moreau-Berillon suggested in his “Au Pays du Champagne” that vintners in Champagne sugared in secret at least since around 1700, and “Sugar suppliers are necessarily a silent lot , and rare is the babbler like the old ‘negociant challonais’ who told of his thousand and one nights of clandestine transport of sugar to the wineries.”

Liqueur de Tirage -   this is a mixture of yeast and cane sugar added to a bottle of champagne to induce the secondary fermentation that produces the bubbles or “prise de mousse” that make champagne so unique.   Yeast consumes much of the sugar in the liqueur de triage to make the bubbles.   This stage of the method champenoise posed great hazards for the early champagne makers.   Putting too little sugar in the bottle resulted in a flaccid wine with too few bubbles, but too much sugar produced too many bubbles resulting in explosive bottles that injured workers and lost wine.   Indeed the failure rate experienced by the early champagne producers could be catastrophic, earning them the reputation as speculators more than vintners.   A. L. Simon in his great book “The History of Champagne”, noted that the bottle breakage rate ranged anywhere from 10% to 80%, which posed a serious health hazard to the workers from flying glass and corks and the chance for financial ruin for the speculator.   The one-eyed cellar worker was not uncommon at the time.   However, this all changed with a technological breakthrough for measuring the sugar content of wine.   In 1836, a chemist named M. Francçois introduced the sucro-oenomètre.   (See the Arts & Sciences column for an explanation of how it works.)   This device for the first time permitted the winemaker to add the precise amount of sugar needed to get the prise de mousse—the bubbles everyone wanted but avoid exploding bottles and put champagne on a sound economic footing.

             Apart from boosting alcohol levels and putting bubbles in champagne, sugar plays one more important role in champagne production—setting the ultimate sweetness.

Liqueur d’Expédition (shipping liqueur)- this is the addition of old wine and cane sugar to the small space in the bottle left by the removal the dead yeast sediment before the final corking, in a process known as dégorgement.   The added sugar changes the sweetness level of the champagne, which is designated on the champagne label.   The champagne label indicates the sweetness levels with counter intuitive but legally controlled designations.   The following table lists six sweetness levels in champagne from the driest to the sweetest.

To help you visualize the amount of sugar we are talking about in a bottle of wine I calculated the number of ordinary sugar cubes (2.5g sugar/cube) of sugar that is present in a standard 750ml bottle of champagne for each classification.    For example a bottle of Brut will have no more than 4.5 cubes per bottle.   That’s less than one cube per glass unless you pour a very large glass.

            The varying levels of sweetness in champagne evolved over time and under the influence of social and cultural factors.   Champagne producers adapted to the changing tastes and demands of its national and international clients.   Look below for a little history, description and food pairing of each sweetness classification.

Ultra Brut aka Brut Zero, Brut Sauvage, Brut Nature, or Brut Non-Dosage

Ultra Brut does not get a sugar dosage or liqueur d'expédition and has a residual sugar less than 6 grams/liter; this is truly the low-carb champagne.

            Before the 1860s all champagnes were sweet.   M. Edwards in the Champagne Companion points out that producing a sweet wine proved commercially expedient for champagne makers.   The addition of good dose of sugar to lower grade wines improves the in flavor and aroma with little cost.   Additionally a sweet wine requires less aging to become palatable, which lowers the production time and cost to the producer by not having to store the wine for several years.   However, tastes evolved and by the 1860s unsugared wines were being requested by consumers based on their perceived health benefits.

            Laurent-Perrier was known in the 19 th century for its “grand vins sans sucre” and Bollinger even shipped a very low sugar champagne called Extra Dry for Invalids. Dry Champagnes earned the designation “natural”.   In Science, Vine and Wine in Modern France, H. W. Paul noted that the medical virtue of Champagne was associated with its acidity, but this virtue was a commercial disadvantage because people were not used to such acidulous natural products.  

            In 1980, Laurent-Perrier reintroduced the “Brut Nature”, a non-dosage champagne called Ultra Brut.   This wine requires the use of very high quality (high sugar), low acidity grapes for its production to avoid excessive tartness.   High quality grapes and extended aging produce a vibrant, very fresh champagne.   Serena Sutcliffe claims this is the perfect wine to accompany oysters that are usually too salty and overwhelm other types of champagnes.   Although not commonly produced, several other house make non-dosage champagnes, notably Piper-Heidseick’s Brut Sauvage or Varnier Fannier’s Brut Zéro.

Brut - literally meaning new, rough, or unadulterated.   Brut tastes very dry and has a residual sugar from 0-15 grams/liter, in other words 0-4.5 cubes of sugar per bottle.

            Today champagne producers make 90% of champagne at the Brut level of sweetness.   Several interesting factors in addition to the assertion of the health benefits of dry champagne contributed to the evolution of Brut champagne from its sweeter ancestors.   The British who were always and remain a significant market for champagne drove the taste for drier wines beginning in the middle of the 1800s.   A number of interesting theories speculate as to why the British pushed for dry champagne.  

            A.L. Simon in “The History of Champagne” noted that British wine merchants in the middle of the 19 th century imported drier champagnes than normally produced to be sold under the merchant’s own label.   He notes that Messrs Burne, Turner & Co. were pioneers in dry champagne.   Mr. Burne tried the 1846 Perrier-Jouët’s cuvées in the Brut—unliquored—state, really liked them and asked Mr. Charles Perrier to give him some only slightly liquored.   Mr Perrier agreed reluctantly to supply a small quantity of this Brut champagne. The public declined this attempt at introducing drier champagne in favor of sweeter wine, but the merchants continued to push the drier wine.   The motivation behind the pioneering work of Mr. Bourne apart from personal taste remains unclear.   He faced adversity from the consumers and the producers alike yet persevered. Eventually drier champagnes came into style.

            A.L Simon suggests that Brut champagnes grew in popularity as they found new food pairings not available to sweet wines. Champagne did not have a place in the British meal because the usual time for sweet champagne—dessert—was firmly and traditionally occupied by port and sherry. Who could take port and sherry away from the British dessert palate? Nobody! However, the drier champagnes could be used at other places in meal especially with fish and white meat.  

            Perhaps the drier versions of champagne became popular simply as a fad.  The really rich, famous and notorious of the time were seen conspicuously imbibing champagne raising its caché with society and the public. By the 1850s and ‘60s Champagne was producing an increasing amount of drier “English cuvées”, notably Bollinger, Clicquot, and Heidseick.   Bollinger shipped drier wines called Private Quality and First Quality.   Very dry champagnes received a major popularity boost following reports of the Prince of Wales and his friends frequently drinking a "very dry" 1865 Ayala at the Ballingdon Club at Oxford.   The popularity of champagne continued to rise, but the truly revolutionary Brut came from Madame Pommery.   The 1874 vintage “took London by storm” according to M. Edwards, setting off a revolution that liberated champagne from the mealtime, and transformed Brut champagne into a 24 hour a day wine to be enjoyed after the theater, before diner or even in the morning with no food at all.

            Today Brut constitutes the bulk of champagne produced. Within the classification of Brut, Krug and Gosset are the driest with less than 9 grams of sugar per liter with Taittinger and Billacart-Salmon coming in at the sweetest end of the Brut scale with nearly 14 grams of sugar per liter.   To write of the wide variety of food pairings with Brut goes far beyond the scope of this article, and suffice to say, that Brut in its many degrees of quality has been linked with everything from caviar to soufflé to dim sum with the exception, according to S. Sutcliffe, being grapefruit and chocolate.   She wrote, “…subjecting champagne to the ordeal [of chocolate] is a crime."

Extra Sec - medium dry wine that has 12-20 grams of residual sugar or anywhere from 3-6 cubes of sugar per bottle.

The degree to which each Champagne is sugared is determined by the tastes of its target audience.   According to Alexis Lichine, in her Guide to the Wines and Vineyards of France, “It is a matter of sophistication now to prefer one’s Champagne as dry as possible, that is brut.”   Truly, most of the Champagnes made and sold today are either Brut or Extra Dry.   But there are certain exquisite moments when something sweeter is preferred, whether a late night fete, a seafood-centered dinner, or to complement dessert.   Let’s explore the richer, fuller side of Champagne. . .

            We should begin a single step from Brut, with the popular Extra Sec, or Extra Dry.   Whereas, Brut Non Dosage and Brut itself contain 0 – 1.5% residual sugar, Extra Sec has 1 – 2%.   The Oxford Companion to Wine reminds us that “Champagne is naturally so high in acidity that even wines with relatively high residual sugar can taste bone dry.”   This is close to the case with many a champagne enthusiast’s favorite, Moët et Chandon’s White Star, a winning Extra Sec from the makers of Dom Perignon.   It is, as many, a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes.   The house recommends, aside from use as an aperitif, pairing it with cheese-based entrees, oyster and fish dishes.   And Bernard Dance, chef at the Chateau de Saran, suggests it is best with “braised lobster with cabbage.”

Sec - this is a medium sweet wine with 17-35 grams per liter of sugar, which equals about 5-10 sugar cubes per bottle.

Though sweeter wines are not chosen as much today as they were a hundred years ago, they still continue to court their chosen crowd.   The next degree of sweetness in Champagne is Sec, or Dry.   According to Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin’s website, “During the 19 th century and early 20 th century the general taste in Champagne leaned toward a much sweeter wine.   This preference for a slightly sweeter Champagne has remained today in some parts of the World.   Scandinavia is a perfect example occupying a special place in the history of Veuve Clicquot.   When Madame Clicquot began shipping Champagne to northern Europe and St. Petersburg it was the Sec that became especially well-known.”   Indeed, in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway it was nicknamed the “Yellow Widow”.   This Sec’s preparation involves the addition of 20 grams of sugar per liter, and is recommended for fish dishes, cheeses as well as desserts that are not too sweet.  

            Taittinger’s Sec is called Nocturne, and also involves adding 20 grams of cane sugar per liter.   Nocturne is touted as the perfect Champagne for late in the evening, and is said to make “a delicious accompaniment to seafood and foie gras on gingerbread.”   It is a blend of 40% Chardonnay grapes, 60% Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.   Moët et Chandon’s Dry Imperial is called “the gastronome’s new Champagne”, and the house also says “A dosage below that of a Demi-Sec cuvee enables the assemblage to reveal its fruity brilliance built around Pinot Noir.”

Demi-Sec- this is a sweet wine with 33-50 grams per liter of sugar, which equals about 10-15 sugar cubes per bottle.

            Even deeper into the heart of sweetness is the Demi-Sec, or Half-Dry.   This wine shares the sweetness enjoyed in earlier champagnes. The Russians loved sweet champagne. While chasing Napoleon across europe the Russian army occupied Champagne long enough to tax the regions resources and develop a fanatical taste for champagne that would grow immensely until the October Revolution in 1917 cut the supply lines. Czar Alexander II loved a sweet cuvée of Roederer so much that did not want the bottle and its contents obscured from the view of his guests by a towel as it was usually served. He had all of his Roederer champagne shipped in crystal bottles, which began the now famous Cristal champagne of Louis Roederer.

         Though the configuration of grape varieties for demi-sec often remains the same as the Sec or drier Champagnes, the dosage is much higher, 4 – 6%.   In the case of Taittinger’s Demi-Sec, this is 35 grams of sugar per liter.   A can of Pepsi contains about 40 grams.   Like their aforementioned Nocturne, it is 40% Chardonnay, 60% Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.   It is referred to as a “gourmet wine” and is a suggested accompaniment for “most desserts, including chocolate cake, strawberry charlotte and warm madeleines”.   Veuve Clicquot’s Demi-Sec is made using the same types of grapes, and is recommended for “pastries and desserts based on fresh fruit, citrus, and dried fruit”.   Its fragrance is said to be “reminiscent of ripe fruit”, like the Canard-Duchene Demi-Sec, with its “intense fresh fruit aromas, characteristic of Pinot Noir grapes.”   It is also touted as the “perfect drink for desserts”.

Doux- this is an extremely sweet wine with greater than 50 grams per liter of sugar, which equals greater than 15 sugar cubes per bottle.

The sixth and highest degree of sweetness is named after the French word for sweet – Doux.   As stated in   “The Complete Beverage Dictionary”, by Bob and Kathie Lipinski, “It is not available in the United States and only produced in limited quantities for Eastern Europe.   According to the European Common Market, Champagnes labeled 'doux' must contain more than fifty grams of sugar per liter.”   They are recommended only as a dessert wine.   According to Science, Vine and Wine in Modern France, by Harry W. Paul, “Tsarist Russia, Scandinavia, and South America have been identified as markets that demanded sweet Champagne.”

         When it comes to this most festive of wines, how sweet it is entirely up to you.   Depending on the dish, the dessert, the time of day and the occasion, you can select the cuvee best suited your mood or meal   As you have seen champagnes span a great spectrum of sweetness and an interesting history has evolved to bring us the domination of the Bruts, but times change and so do tastes.   Try a sweeter champagne for fun and a glimpse of what your ancestors tasted.