Choosing the Perfect Champagne:
Sweetness Level
Brut Nature, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra-Dry, Dry, and Doux
All Champagne is labeled with a word that indicates its sweetness level.
The sweetness in Champagne is unlike sweetness in wine because this sweetness comes in the form of a sweetened “dosage” (a mixture of wine and sugar or grape) that’s added at end of second fermentation (part that makes the bubbles).
The dosage is essential because acidity is usually so high, wine would otherwise be undrinkable.
Most Champagne is produced at a Brut level of sweetness.
Brut Nature: Bone Dry (0–3 g/L sugar). No added sweetness with 0–2 sugar calories per 5/oz serving.
Extra Brut: Bone Dry (0–6 g/L sugar). A touch of added sweetness to balance Champagne’s naturally high acidity. 0–5 sugar calories per glass.
Brut: Dry (0–12 g/L sugar). The average Champagne dosage is usually around 6–10 g/L which adds body. Since wine has high acidity level it usually tastes dry or even bone dry. Brut Champagne adds just 5–7 sugar calories per glass.
Extra Dry: Fruity (12–17 g/L sugar). The level of sweetness is still low enough that Extra Dry Champagne tastes mostly dry but with distinctly more fruit-forward character. Adds 7–10 sugar calories per 5 oz serving.
Dry: Off-Dry (17–32 g/L sugar). A fruity and somewhat sweet style of Champagne with a richer body and texture. Adds about 10–20 sugar calories per glass.
Demi-Sec: Sweet (32–50 g/L sugar). A noticeably sweet style of Champagne that is perfect alongside desserts, cheeses or nuts. Adds 20–30 sugar calories per serving.
Doux: Sweet (50+ g/L sugar). A dessert-style of Champagne that is now relatively rare to find. Very sweet fruit flavors and pairs nicely with creamy desserts (without chocolate). Adds over 30 sugar calories per 5 oz glass.
Style
Standard, Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Noirs, Rosé
There are 3 primary grapes used to make Champagne and they are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier. For those in the know, there are also 4 much rarer grapes of Champagne: Arbane, Pinot Blanc, Petite Meslier and Fromenteau.
How these grapes are used (or not used) gives us a clue towards the style. If Champagne doesn’t have a style listed you can assume that the producer made a blend of all three grapes in a blanc (white) style.
Blanc de Blancs:
(white of whites) This is a blanc style Champagne made with 100% white grapes. In Champagne this means wine is 100% Chardonnay. Blanc de Blancs typically have more lemon and apple-like fruit flavors.
There are of course, a few rare exceptions to this rule with a few very rare grapes (in the same region) including Pinot Blanc, Petite Meslier and Arbane, but for the most part, Blanc de Blancs is 100% Chardonnay.
Blanc de Noirs:
(white of blacks) This is a blanc style Champagne made with 100% black grapes.
In Champagne, this means some combination of just Pinot Noir and/or Pinot Meunier. Blanc de Noirs typically have more strawberry and white raspberry flavors.
Rosé:
The pink style is made usually by blending blanc Champagne with a teensy bit of red Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier wine.
The red wine made for Champagne is very different than the Pinot Noir you might think of. It’s purpose is to provide pure fruit flavors such as strawberry and raspberry in the taste. Wines are tart, with low tannin and very high acidity.
It doesn’t take a lot of red wine to make rosé, in fact, several producers use 10% or less Pinot Noir for their rosé Champagne.
Aging
Vintage vs Non-Vintage Champagne
One of least talked about and most important factors that plays into taste of Champagne is how long it’s aged.
Aging Champagne on “tirage” (on the lees) gives it more bready, toasty and nutty aromas – highlights of great Champagne.
The best producers with nuttiest wines are known to age their wines on “tirage” for as long as 5–7 years before release. Even though tirage time is usually not listed seeing vintage on label is a clue.
Non-Vintage: Aged for a minimum of 15 months. Non-vintage (NV) Champagne exists so that producers can make a consistent house style each year (regardless of quality of that year’s harvest). Most NV Champagne are fruitier and less bready than their vintage styles.
Vintage: Aged for a minimum of 3 years. On special years when harvest is particularly good, producers create single-vintage wines. Most opt for creamy and yeasty style in this aging category.
