Champagne, a complex production
Blending or not of wines of the year with reserve wines, setting aside certain harvests in order to produce vintage champagnes, second fermentation in the bottle, birth of the bubble, long and slow maturation, disgorging… The development of a champagne is complex and, among these steps, that of dosage is crucial! The dosage occurs just after disgorging (the action of expelling the deposit formed during aging), which leaves a void that must be filled with a clever mixture of wine and sugar. If the fashion has long been for very sweet champagnes (at another time, they were often dosed with more than 100 g of sugar per liter, and were drunk ice-cold and without bubbles), we have returned to much more reasonable dosages, even non-existent.
The right dosages of sugar in champagne
Brut champagnes, containing less than 12 g of sugar per liter, are the most common. Beyond that, there are extra-dry (or extra-dry) between 12 and 17 g/l, dry between 17 and 32 g/l, semi-dry between 32 and 50 g/l, and finally sweet. more than 50 g of sugar per liter. So beware of false friends: a dry champagne is sweeter than a brut!
The boom of almost nothing
In recent years, a strong trend has emerged: the desire to dose very little, all types of champagnes. Whether they are extra-brut (between 0 and 6 g), or non-dosed, brut nature, zero dosage (less than 3 g), they express more of the vinous character according to their aficionados. What is certain is that they require great attention and perfect mastery of balance from winegrowers. And in the kitchen too, champagne hits the mark, like this champagne r isotto, pan-fried foie gras and this champagne spoom.
