A true product of the Champagne region, Champagne is the world’s best-known sparkling wine. Since the work of Dom Pérignon at the end of the 17th century, Champagne-making has had its own method… the méthode champenoise.

To put it simply, Champagne vinification involves a double fermentation of the must, the first in vats, and the second in the bottle itself in the cellar. Between the two fermentations, different crus are blended (unless the champagne is vintage) and tartaric stabilization takes place.

Once the second fermentation is complete, the wine is stirred, disgorged and measured. During dosing, a small quantity of liqueur is introduced. Depending on the amount of liqueur added, different champagnes can be obtained, ranging from doux to extra brut.

This gives us the following correspondences:

• Sweet, over 50 grams of sugar per liter.
• Demi-sec, between 32 and 50 grams of sugar per liter.
• Dry, between 17 and 32 grams of sugar per liter.
• Extra dry, between 12 and 17 grams of sugar per liter.
• Brut, between 6 and 12 grams of sugar per liter.
• Extra brut, between 0 and 6 grams of sugar per liter.

If the wine has no added sugar and contains less than 3 grams of sugar per liter, it can be described as “Brut Nature”,“pas dosé” or “dosage zéro”.

The more we want to preserve the harvest’s distinctive personality, the less sugar we add. Conversely, to bring out certain aromas and complete the style, we add a little more liqueur.

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