Sparkling wine and champagne: what does brood mean?

You often read the word "brut" on champagne and champagne bottles. It comes from French and has nothing to do with "the brood". You can find out exactly what the term means here.

Brut: meaning for sparkling wine and champagne

If you read "brut" on a label, this is an indication that sparkling wine, champagne and other sparkling wines are bitter.

• "Brut" is the French word for "herb".
• How bitter or sweet sparkling wines are depends largely on the residual sugar content. Sparkling wine and champagne classified as "brut" have a maximum of 15 grams of residual sugar per liter.
• Somewhat bitter is "extra brut". Here the residual sugar content of the sparkling wine is only up to six grams per liter.
• Brut can be compared to the term "dry" for wines. One major difference, however, is that carbonated drinks generally seem less sweet to us. A dry white wine has only about nine grams of residual sugar per liter.
• However, sometimes you read "dry" on sparkling wine labels. Here, however, the sugar content is not comparable to the equivalent from the wine rack. Dry sparkling wine can have up to 35 grams of sugar per liter, whereas dry wine can only contain a maximum of 9 grams of residual sugar.

Champagne in the test: these are the best varieties

What is the difference between sparkling wine and champagne? We'll explain it in the next practical tip.