Champagne Doux is the term used to denote the very sweetest of Champagnes, with more than 50 grams of residual sugar per liter of wine. This style was once very popular, not only because sugar is naturally appealing to the human palate, but also because sweet Champagne is easier to make than dry. But nowadays, with wine fashion moving towards drier styles, sweet doux Champagnes are increasingly rare.
At the other end of the scale are Extra Brut and Brut Nature (also entitled 'zero' or 'non-dose'). Far from being providing the luscious, sweet mouthful of a doux champagne, these are searingly dry – an effect emphasized by champagne's naturally high acidity.
The sweetness of champagne is a key component in the wine's overall qualities, ranking alongside aroma, varietal composition and the fineness/persistence of its mousse (bubbles). Residual sugar – and the secondary fermentation it can lead to – is precisely what brought about the creation of the very first champagne, and remains fundamental to champagne production today.
To induce a second fermentation – and to control the eventual sweetness – carefully measured doses of sweet 'vin de liqueur' (usually a mixture of sugar syrup and wine known as dosage) are added to the base wine. The sweetness of the final addition – the liqueur d'expedition – dictates how sweet the completed wine will be. For the production of champagne doux, the proportion of sugar to wine used in the dosage is at its very highest.
The official sweetness levels of champagne are:
- Doux (50+ g/L)
- Demi-sec (33–50 g/L)
- Sec (17–35 g/L)
- Extra-Sec (12–20 g/L)
- Brut (0–12 g/L)
- Extra Brut (0–6 g/L)
- Brut Nature/Zero (0–3 g/L).
