The Bubble Spectrum

Choosing a bottle of champagne for dinner reminds me of my dart game: I know generally what I’m aiming for, and I give it my best shot. Assuming sweet sparkling wines like Asti are meant for dessert, I always thought that dry sparkling would be best for dinner. When I heard the terms “Brut,” “Extra Brut” and “Extra Dry,” I just ignored them, hoping they didn’t mean anything. Then I went to wine class and found out that this is not optimal practice.

Part of a spectrum of terminology indicating the level of sweetness a sparkling wine, these terms are actually very helpful in distinguishing sparkling wines! However, you might want to make some flashcards to carry around because these terms are not wholly intuitive.

Starting at the driest end of the spectrum:

1) Brut Nature or Brut Natural – These terms denote the most dry of dry sparkling wines, and are reserved for varieties with less than 3 grams of residual sugar per liter.

2) Extra Brut or Brut Extra – Denote a sparkling wine that has between 3 and 6 grams of sugar per liter.

3) Brut – This term is for a wine that’s dryer than “dry,” having between 6 and 12 grams of residual sugar per liter.

4) Extra Dry, Extra Sec, or Extra Seco – Making a bit of sense, “extra” dry means ‘more dry than regular dry.’ These wines have between 12 and 17 grams of residual sugar per liter.

5) Dry, Sec or Seco – Far from the driest designation, ‘dry’ wines have between 18 and 32 grams of sugar per liter.

6) Demi-Sec or Semi-Seco – Referring to wine that is very sweet, these terms denote wine that has between 32 and 50 grams of residual sugar per liter.

7) Dolce, Doux or Sweet (very, very sweet) – The sweetest of sweet wines have over 50 grams of residual sugar per liter! (And can be poured over ice cream or with served with a gummy bear kabob.)

Fortified by this knowledge, my method of selecting a champagne will forever be transformed. No longer be driven by randomness, it will instead resemble my legal practice: reading the fine print, analyzing the facts and reaching an informed conclusion about the best sparkling wine for the contextual situation.