Sparkling Wine and Pairing 135
Table 6.3 Sweetness Levels in Sparkling Wines
Sweetness Levels Descriptions
Brut nature Bone dry with no hint of any sweet sensation.
Brut An inability to pick up the sensation of sweetness on the tongue.
Extra Sec (Extra Dry) Any level of sweetness is barely perceived and only with difficulty and
hard work on the evaluator’s part.
Sec A lightly sweet sensation is identified and perceived at a sufficient level.
Demi-Sec Sugary, full, noticeable glycerin, containing residual sugar but pleasant
in taste.
Doux Sweetness is at an unmistakably high level of perceptibility with a lot of
emphasis.Table 6.4 Sparkling Wine Effervescence Levels
Levels Examples
Slightly sparkling Fendant (Switzerland)
Some Aligote ́ (Burgundy)
Some Vinho Verde (Portugal)
Some from the Prosecco grape (produced as still, slightly, semi-sparkling,
and fully sparkling from the Veneto region of Italy)
Semi-sparkling Clairette de Die (from Clairette and Muscat grapes—Rhoˆne)
Some Muscat (Oregon)
Moscato d’Asti (Piedmont)Full sparkling Asti Spumante (Piedmont)
Champagne (France)
Cre ́mant de Bourgogne (Burgundy)
Cava (Spain)
Rosa Regale Brachetto d’Acqui (red, from Italy)percent, and should taste bone dry. Brut (residual sugar of 0.5–1.5 percent) should have no
perception of sweetness and taste dry. Extra dry has a residual sugar level of 1.2–2.0 percent
and tastes slightly sweet. Sec has residual sugar of 1.7–3.5 percent and is noticeably sweet
(confusingly,sectranslates as ‘‘dry’’). Demi-sec is definitely sweet, with residual sugar of 3.3–
5.0 percent. Doux sparkling wines, which are fairly uncommon in the United States, are
very sweet, with a residual sugar level of over 5.0 percent. American sparkling wine producers
don’t conform to the European standards but follow the same hierarchy of dry-to-sweet
organization in their terminology.^11
How does sweetness level influence sparkling wine and food choices? As you remember
from the previous chapter, sweetness in wine creates a match with the sweetness in food.
Brut and extra-dry sparkling wines can be paired with a wide variety of foods, including light
appetizers, seafood, fish, poultry, Asian foods, ham, and game. In general, sec, demi-sec, and
doux wines are more appropriate with sweeter foods such as fruits and desserts.
Effervescence A main criterion in wine consumed with salty or bitter food is the
level of effervescence present. Wines can be still, slightly sparkling, semi-sparkling, or full
sparkling. Slightly sparkling wine is calledpe ́tillantin French andfrizzantein Italian. Table
6.4 provides some examples of wines in each of these categories.
Many wines are sometimes produced as slightly sparkling or have a ‘‘spritzer’’ character
to them. Examples include Fendant, a white wine from the Valais region of Switzerland, and