What is the difference between brut and sec champagne

And learn how it's different from other types of Champagne so you can pick the right bottle for your tastes and food pairings. Like all Champagnes, Brut Champagne is made from the grapes grown in northeastern France, otherwise known as the Champagne province — simple enough, right?

Well there are actually a number of classifications within the Champagne category to complicate things.

Champagne is classified by sweetness. Brut, which means "dry, raw, or unrefined," in French, is the driest meaning the least sweet classification of Champagne. To be considered Brut, the Champagne must be made with less than 12 grams of added sugar per liter. Brut Champagne is the most common style of sparkling wine. The next groups, from driest to sweetest, are extra dry, sec or dry, demi-sec, and doux. In terms of sugar content per liter, Wine Folly notes that brut nature has zero to three grams, extra brut has up to six grams, brut has up to 12 grams, and extra dry has 12 to 17 grams.

The three sweetest — sec or dry, demi-sec, and doux — can contain from 17 to more than 50 grams. Therefore, brut is actually a less sweet version of champagne than extra dry. However, when winemakers refer to brut wine, they are referring to the style of wine, rather than any particular variety.

This triggers the secondary fermentation, giving the sparkling wine its bubbles. While many Champagnes and sparkling wines have a high dosage, brut wine has very little of this sweetened wine added to it, keeping it dry and sharp. When shopping for sparkling wine, or Champagne, you can pick one to suit your taste by checking the wine label for these terms:.

When it comes to winemaking, there are three main ways of creating bubbly. While each method has its benefits the latter two are much more cost-effective , the traditional approach is how iconic Champagne, such as Dom Perignon, and Spanish Cavas are made. To produce bubbly the traditional way, winemakers make the base wine the same way they would make any wine.

Check out our guide on how wine is made to learn more. The wines are then bottled, ready for the second fermentation. During this time, the yeast in the wine dies, leaving sediment in the neck of the bottle. Then the dosage takes place.

Remember, for brut wine, this means very little sugar is added to the bottle. For example, a brut sparkling wine made from cabernet sauvignon grapes grown in Napa will have different flavors than a brut made from a blend of pinot noir and chardonnay grown in the Champagne region of France.

Now we drink champagne as an aperitif, but the Tsars drank it with desert, hence the high sugar level. Champagne » Three grape varieties or more? Champagne - Brut or Demi-Sec? Brut Brut is the basic type of champagne and today the most popular one.