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Brut Champagne, Extra Brut, Dry? What Are The Different Types Of Champagne?

Brut Champagne, Extra Brut, Dry? What Are The Different Types Of Champagne?

Champagne usually finds itself among the most important guests during the celebration of an event. But, did you know that it is actually a blended wine? These bubbles, which delight your taste buds in a, certainly still have secrets to reveal. Be it that you are totally new or in the selection of your champagne, discover all that you need to know in order to choose the one that will accompany your festive meals.

The birth of champagne.

A champagne is the fruit of several grape varieties (we usually find Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier), from plots, years and different aromatic qualities. Original champagne benefits from the same name at the only condition that it is being produced in the Champagne region and uses only the following grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Arbanne, Petit Meslier, Pinot de Juillet, Pinot true gray, Pinot Rosé and/or Pinot Blanc. Its manufacture by the winegrower takes place in a few stages. The first is what we call alcoholic fermentation, since the sugar naturally contained in the grapes has to be transformed into alcohol. It is at this point in time that the grape juice turns into wine. Then, all the juices obtained from different grapes and from different places are assembled. This step simply called assembly. As from this moment, the champagne is bottled with sugar and yeast but the process does not stop there because by adding these two ingredients, something known as malolactic fermentation happens. It means that, the yeast changes sugar into carbon dioxide and alcohol. The carbonic gas will dissolve in the wine and create the famous bubbles that we expect during the tasting of the champagne. The bottle will have to stay for at least on to three years before being taken out of the shade. It is actually stored horizontally in a cool and dark cellar to get mature, then, in the meantime, the winemaker takes care of turning the bottles in order to remove the lees (this is the disgorgement). But now, you are probably wondering why from all these steps, there still exist so many names for champagnes. Raw, extra crude, rosé, white...do you feel a little lost? Don't panic! The reason is very simple.

A dosing story.

Even if raw champagne is the best known and the most produced, it doesn’t make it impossible make interesting discoveries about other flavours. Did you know that sugar is the only item that differentiates every champagnes? In fact, all the appellations given to champagne are defined according to the rate of sugar per litre.

Plain brut champagne.

Also known as "zero dosage" or "not dosed", plain brut champagne has no sugar. These bubbles at their pure state are consumed during aperitifs. It is light and also knows very well how to reveal the flavours of seafood or sushi.

Extra brut champagne.

Slightly sweeter than plain brut champagne, extra brut champagne contains between 0 and 6 grams of sugar. Not well dosed, fresh and fine, and is ideal for starters or aperitifs.

Raw champagne.

Brut champagne is a timeless taste so unique and appreciated by all. It is and has always been the reference for champagne lovers and is often constitute the signature of its producer. It is different from others in that it is the less sugar-coated champagne. In principle, it is estimated that there are between 6 and 8 grams of sugar per bottle. A raw vintage is generally made from the grapes collected the same year which is combined with wines from the previous year. This type of champagne has a refreshing, lively taste and often does its entry at aperitif or during a meal. You can easily appreciate it in every circumstances.

The extra-dry champagne.

From its other name "extra dry", the extra-dry champagne has from 12 to 17 grams of sugar and blends quite well with the sweet desserts.

Dry champagne.

The dry champagne is milder and rounder than the raw and semi-dry. It contains an average of 17 to 35 grams of sugars, what makes it to be mostly eaten with desserts.

Semi-dry champagne.

Found in-between the dry and the sweet, the semi-dry champagne has a relatively high amount of sugar (between 32 and 50 g) and is in as much appreciable with desserts.

Sweet champagne.

Sweet champagne is the sweetest of all champagnes. More than 50 g of sugars are added to make it particularly appreciable with a dessert. In short, in order to make the best choice, you have to take into consideration the aromatic structure of the champagne that is, it is preferable to make it in such a way that the wine adapts to the dish. You can also have fun if there is a contrast between the aromatic shades and your dishes for a surprising offset but also providing just as much pleasure.

The vintages in champagne

To end up with our brief discovery of different champagne types, it is important to mention the wines. Indeed, there exist various "ranges" of champagnes corresponding to very strict standards. We find in particular:

  • Champagne grand cru of which all the grapes come from municipalities classified as 100% grand cru. We count 17 grand cru Champagne, all located in the department Marne department;
  • Champagne premier cru, which highlights the grapes of 44 municipalities (are also all located in the Marne) classified from 90 to 99%;
  • The "normal" champagne, where only the word champagne is placed on the label. The grapes are harvested in municipalities classified 80% to 89%.

The difference between these types of wines lies mainly in the power and complexity of the champagne. Definitely, there are as many champagnes as there are preferences. It is now up to you to find the perfect composition for your dishes! And discover all our plain raw champagnes, extra-raw, raw and others on enolia.be website!