Styles of Champagne

Although there are many factors that influence the flavour of Champagne, such as vineyard, grape variety, vintage, blend and pressing, one of the other major factors is the content of the liqueur d'expedition, which is used to top-up the bottles after they have been disgorged and the sediment removed. This liquid contains varying amounts of sugar syrup and some reserve wine, and the amount of sugar in this mixture dictates the sweetness level and determines the style of the Champagne.

The most common style today is Brut, although throughout the 19th century and into the early 20th century champagne was generally much sweeter than it is today.

Brut Natural

Also known as Brut Zéro, this style contains less than 3 grams of sugar per litre.

Extra Brut

A very dry wine style these days, in which the sugar content (or dosage) is less than 6 grams of sugar per litre. Only Laurent-Perrier's Ultra Brut is widely available in this style.

Brut

As mentioned above, the majority of Champagnes fall into this category, containing less than 15 grams of sugar per litre. In exceptional harvests, the grapes may have enough natural sugar to be a "Brut" style without any dosage. An example of this is Année de la Comète 1986 from Raymond Boulard.

Extra-Sec

Also known as Extra Dry, this unusual style contains 12 to 20 grams of sugar per litre.

Sec

This very unusual style contains 17 to 35 grams of sugar per litre.

Demi-Sec

Most champagne houses will produce this style, which is ideal for drinking with desserts and foie gras. The sugar content is between 35 and 50 grams per litre.

Doux

This intensely sweet style contains over 50 grams of sugar per litre, and is extremely rare. The early Champagnes, particularly those favoured in Russia before the revolution, were of this style.