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The Spruce Eats / Lecia Landis
Let’s be real: many find themselves cringing at the mention of "sweet" as a sparkling wine descriptor—especially as society’s attention of late has been laser-focused on the dry end of the spectrum, where brut nature, extra brut, and brut live in ascending level of sugar content. From there, we begin to venture into the sweet side of things: extra-dry, sec (or dry), demi-sec, and doux, with the latter being the sweetest of them all (we’ll get into the specifics of sugar content for each category a bit later).
If you don’t already know, sugar is actually a normal component of Champagne and has been for centuries—in fact, most of the Champagnes throughout the 1800s were made on the sweeter side in order to cater to the palate preferences and winemaking trends of the times. Again, we’ve grown to favor drier sparkling wines between then and now, but there’s always a time and a place for a sweeter style, whether as a nod to history, a great pairing tool, or a simple matter of taste. To help sort through all the options available, we tapped some top wine experts.
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Renowned house
Great quality-to-price ratio
Great for pairing with spicy food
Similar label to Brut can be confusing
Understanding the relationship between dosage and Champagne is a bit easier once you’ve got a general idea of how the wine is made. Daniel Pires, head sommelier at the Royal Champagne Hotel and Spa in Champagne, shares his insight: “To make Champagne, we add two things—the first being the 'liqueur de tirage' (a mix of yeast, wine, and sugar) to create the effervescence in the bottle, and the second one being the 'liqueur d'expédition' (a white wine that may or may not include sugar and/or brandy) to determine the style of Champagne.” Demi-sec, which translates literally to “semi-dry,” is second to last on the sweetness scale with a range of sugar content between 32 and 50 grams per liter. (The sweetest category, for reference, is doux, which contains 50 grams of sugar per liter or above.)
Atlanta-based wine consultant and Cork Camp founder Kyla Cox explains how to pair a demi-sec wine: “my favorite way to enjoy these wines is with a salty or savory match for balance. A demi-sec pairs perfectly with Roquefort cheese, seafood gumbo, and spicy curries.”
According to Cox, a doux wine could work well in place of a demi-sec with any of these dishes, but one of her personal favorite sweet Champagnes is Piper-Heidsieck Cuvée Sublime, an exquisite demi-sec with notes of caramel, vanilla, roasted tropical fruits, spiced pear, and praline. As Cox puts it, “the name says it all.”
Region: Champagne, France | ABV: 12.8% | Tasting Notes: Caramel, vanilla, praline
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Well balanced
Good acidity and balance
Can be aged in the bottle
Opaque bottling is not as attractive
Hard to find
The sec (or dry) category of sparkling wines represents medium sweetness, broadly speaking, and contains between 17 and 32 grams of sugar per liter. Champagne Lanson’s White Label Sec, a non-vintage sec Champagne at a rather affordable price point, is quite possibly the best bang for your buck within the category. (The house has been around since 1760, so they know what they’re doing!)
With this wine, you can expect dynamic, sharp citrus notes on the palate along with just-ripe black fruits, subdued spice, and a creamy mouthfeel. Like many sweet sparkling wines, it’s recommended that you let this age in the bottle for some time before enjoying.
Region: Champagne, France | ABV: 12.5% | Tasting Notes: Stone fruit, pear, marzipan
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Ageworthy
Makes a great gift
Incredibly balanced
Opaque packaging
Deemed the only prestige Champagne in the Demi-Sec category, this show-stopping wine from Armand de Brignac—known as Ace of Spades since Jay Z’s purchasing of the brand back in 2014—is an absolute stunner. Crafted by the Cattier family, whose roots in the premier cru village of Chigny-les-Roses date back to 1763, this high-end cuvée is made with a 40/40/20 blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier.
Perhaps the most impressive notion of this wine is its balance, thanks to the fact that the dosage here is kept at the lowest number possible on the Demi-Sec spectrum. On the palate, candied grapefruit, citrus rind, mirabelle, and toast. While beautiful in its youth, this well-structured wine will age gracefully in the cellar for the next 10-15 years to come.
Region: Champagne, France | ABV: 12.5% | Tasting Notes: Candied grapefruit, citrus rind, mirabelle, toast
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Food friendly
Classically-styled label
Good for learning about sweetness levels
Confusing labeling
Though it's very confusing, the term "extra-dry"—also referred to as "extra-sec"—is used to describe off-dry (i.e. slightly sweet) Champagnes. In the past, most Champagne used to be sweet, so when it was made only slightly sweet, it was considered "dry" or "extra dry" by comparison. These days, most people tend to like their Champagne almost entirely dry, so the Champagnoise came up with another term, "brut," to describe wines that are even drier than "extra-dry." In other words, extra-dry wines are sweeter (not drier) than brut Champagne—though they are the least sweet of the four sweet Champagnes. Off-dry Champagnes contain between 12 and 17 grams of residual sugar per liter and are in the middle of the sweetness scale as a whole.
While demi-sec Champagnes tend to be the most common of the sweet Champagnes found in stores, if you’re looking to dip your toes into the sweet Champagne category, an extra-dry Champagne would be the perfect jumping-off point, making it worth the search. One of our favorite wines in this category is Heidsieck & Co Monopole Extra Dry, a bold and crisp Champagne with a subtly soft sweetness and sharp fruit layered in spice.
Region: Champagne, France | ABV: 12% | Tasting Notes: Fruit, spice, yeastiness
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Beloved Champagne house
Great with dessert
Same blend as Billecart-Salmon's Brut bottling
Potentially too sweet for some
Billecart-Salmon, one of our favorite Champagne houses in general, is behind this elegant, nuanced demi-sec expression. This wine is actually the exact blend used in their brut reserve, the only difference being the dosage (the demi-sec contains 40 grams of sugar per liter). The Billecart-Salmon Demi-Sec is a soft, pale yellow with honeyed pear, white flowers, and buttery brioche on the nose and a round, juicy palate of robust fruit.
This is an excellent and beautifully balanced demi-sec that pairs extraordinarily well with food. Pastry Chef Gilles Marchal recommends something bright and sweet (but not cloying) like shortbread, strawberry tartlet, or lemon meringue tart with citrus zest (ideally lime). If you’re not a fan of sweet desserts, go for a cheese plate with some creaminess and funk. You won’t regret it.
Region: Champagne, France | ABV: 12% | Tasting Notes: Pear, white flowers, brioche
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Great with cheese
Easy to find
Relatively affordable
Expensive
Kitschy packaging
Doux is the sweetest designation of all Champagnes and is defined by containing 50 or more grams of sugar per liter. You won’t find too many of these wines on the U.S. market, but the Veuve Clicquot Rich Blanc is a reliable go-to and is made to be sipped in more ways than one.
This wine was actually designed to be played around with—it’s recommended that you dress it up a bit, serving it over ice and a fresh ingredient or two (think cucumber, fresh herbs, berries, or a slice of pineapple) to bring out qualities in the wine that you might not otherwise pick up on. On its own, Veuve Clicquot Rich Blanc, which contains 60 grams of sugar per liter, offers plenty of fruit and florality on the nose and palate cushioned by a soft, creamy finish.
Sip this one outside with your favorite cheeses and preserves, and note how the sweetness of the preserves specifically impacts the taste of the wine as you pair.
Region: Champagne, France | ABV: 12% | Tasting Notes: Marmalade, lemon custard, brioche
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Budget friendly
Organic practices
Low in alcohol
Not true Champagne
Based in the Piedmont region of Italy, Marchesi di Grésy’s family estate has been producing quality, affordable wines since 1797. Today, the estate comprises four properties across the region, with home bases rooted in Langhe and Monferrato. For centuries, grapes were sold off to other estates, though the forward-thinking Alberto di Grésy decided to bottle the family’s first estate wines back in 1973. The family’s Moscato d’Asti plantings come from the La Serra and Monte Colombo in Monferrato, which are dominated by clay-based soils.
Contrary to the traditional method used in Champagne, Moscato d’Asti gets its bubbles from the halting of fermentation, meaning that residual sugar left in the wine is high (thanks to the killing of the yeasts via temperature control) and final ABV is low. The resulting wine is fresh, lightly sparkling, and perfect for enjoying at brunch, lunch, and post-dinner. On the palate, expect flavors of canned pears, peaches, tropical fruits, and hints of dried sage.
Region: Piedmont, Italy | ABV: 5% | Tasting Notes: Canned pear, peaches, tropical fruits, dried sage
For that perfect combination of a classic Champagne body with a delicate touch of sweetness, the Piper-Heidsieck Cuvée Sublime Demi-Sec can't be beat. If you love your wines super sweet, we also recommend Veuve Clicquot Rich Blanc.
What to Look for When Buying Sweet Champagne
Sweetness
Consider just how sweet you want your Champagne to be. Brut has just a flutter of sweetness; extra brut is slightly sweeter, while sec is even sweeter. Next in line is demi-sec, with doux being the sweetest Champagne of all.
Remember that sweet Champagne technically begins at the Extra Dry category, which means the wines have up to 12 grams per liter of residual sugar, followed by Dry/Sec at 12-17 grams per liter of sugar, and Demi-Sec at 17-32 grams per liter of sugar. The sweetest Champagnes on the market will boast the Doux labeling, meaning that the wine has 50+ grams per liter of sugar. When seeking out a high-quality sweet Champagne, sommelier Tonya Pitts recommends looking for a solid balance between sugar, fruit-forwardness, minerality, and acidity.
According to Pires, the way dosage translates to the palate isn’t as straightforward as one might think. “The dosage is chosen by the winemaker or the cellar master in a blind tasting,” he notes. “To a professional, a Champagne that might seem sweet to the palate is not necessarily the one that on paper is the most dosed.” We recommend starting with extra-brut or demi-sec, paying attention to the interplay of sweetness and acidity.
Lastly, if you have a bottle that you’d like to cellar, keep at it. Pires points out that age refines the sugars in a wine, thus bringing more complexity to the table.
Mouthfeel
When you take that first sip of Champagne, it should feel soft yet crisp with those wonderful bubbles tingling delicately, but not abrasively, on your palate. When seeking out a solid sweet Champagne, Marcelo Avalos Diaz, sommelier at Gulf Liquors in Florida, looks for a concentrated amount of sugar, as well as how much the Champagne has to offer in terms of flavor.
“Sweet champagne is bolder and longer lasting, with [a more robust] mouthfeel on the palate,” he says, citing flavors of peach, almond, and pineapple as common flavor descriptors. With regards to food pairings, Avalos Diaz cites pork, shellfish, and fattier fish (salmon, swordfish) as great matches. “[The wines] hold up well to these dishes due to the sweetness and strong fruit flavor of the Champagne,” he says.
Bubbles
Speaking of those bubbles, good-quality Champagne will actually have smaller bubbles rather than larger ones. Contrary to the acid and mineral-driven characteristics of dry Champagne, Pitts notes that there is more of a “sweetness and buoyancy in the mid-palate” to be found in sweet expressions.
With regards to food pairing, she cites soft, creamy cheeses with a hint of orange blossom honey, as well as fried chicken with spiced honey butter, as two of her favorites. [Side note: For glassware, tulip-shaped glasses tend to show off these bubblies the best.]
FAQs
What pairs well with sweet Champagne?
Bubbly sweet Champagne goes well with many dishes, from appetizers all the way through to desserts. It pairs wonderfully with cheese and crackers, sweet desserts, and pastries—or, additionally, with salty-type foods, including seafood. “I especially like sweet and savory dishes or hot foie gras—these go well with medium-dry Champagnes,” says Pires.
How do you correctly pour Champagne?
To pour Champagne into a flute—or another type of glass, if you don't have a Champagne flute—the glass should be held at a 45-degree angle. Some people prefer to use a wine glass over a flute as they feel this helps release the aroma of the Champagne better.
How long can you keep an open bottle of Champagne in the fridge?
Plan to drink that opened bottle of Champagne within three days; otherwise, it will go flat and lose the tingly bubbly effect. You will also notice a change in the flavor the longer you let it sit. To help it keep it fresh and bubbly, put a Champagne stopper in the neck of the bottle after you pop off that cork.
Why Trust The Spruce Eats?
Sparkling wine is journalist Céline Bossart’s desert island drink. Although she generally prefers something on the brut side, she’s tasted quite a few sweeter styles and is a fan of the broader food-pairing possibilities that come with them.
This roundup was edited by Jesse Porter, who's worked as a sommelier for several excellent Champagne programs—and yet who finds it challenging to maintain a decent Champagne collection at home, as they tend to pair so nicely with pretty much any meal.
Vicki Denig is a wine, spirits, and travel journalist based between New York and Paris. Her writing regularly appears in major industry publications, including Liquor.com, WineSearcher, Decanter, and beyond. Vicki also works with a prestigious Rolodex of monthly clients, including Paris Wine Company, Becky Wasserman & Co, Corkbuzz, Provignage, and beyond. She is a Certified Specialist of Wine. When not writing, Vicki enjoys indoor cycling classes and scoping out dogs to pet in her local parks.
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