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Champagne Decoded: Brut, Extra Brut, Blanc de Blancs and Growers
Wine & Champagne

Champagne Decoded: Brut, Extra Brut, Blanc de Blancs and Growers

The label tells you almost everything, if you know where to look. Sweetness, grapes, age and who actually made it, in five minutes.

MAN TARGET EditorsOctober 28, 2026 4 min read

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Champagne is not a style of sparkling wine; it is a place. Only wine from the delimited Champagne region in north-east France, made by the traditional method with its second fermentation in the bottle, may carry the name. The main grapes are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier. Beyond that, a few words on the label tell you how dry it is, what it is made from, how long it has aged and who made it. Learn them and you will never order blind again.

Sweetness: read the dosage

After the second fermentation, the yeast is removed and the bottle is topped up with a little wine that may contain sugar. This is the dosage, and it decides the style.

  • Brut Nature: less than 3 grams of sugar per litre, often with no sugar added at all.
  • Extra Brut: between 0 and 6 grams per litre. Taut, precise, mineral.
  • Brut: less than 12 grams per litre. The classic, and most of what you will see.
  • Extra Dry, Sec and Demi-Sec are progressively sweeter, and Doux is the sweetest, above 50 grams per litre. Note that Extra Dry is sweeter than Brut.
The less sugar in the bottle, the more the grapes and the cellar have to speak for themselves.
Fine bubbles, a cold bucket and the right label: the whole ritual starts with reading the bottle.
Fine bubbles, a cold bucket and the right label: the whole ritual starts with reading the bottle.

Grapes and age

  • Blanc de Blancs: white grapes only, in practice almost always Chardonnay. Citrus, chalk, finesse; the Côte des Blancs is its heartland.
  • Blanc de Noirs: a white wine made from the black grapes Pinot Noir and Meunier. Rounder, fuller, red-fruited.
  • Non-vintage: a blend of several years designed to express a consistent house style. It must age at least 15 months before release.
  • Vintage: made from a single year's harvest, usually only in strong years, and aged at least three years before release.
  • Rosé: Champagne is one of the few places allowed to make rosé by blending in a little red wine.

Grower Champagne: the producer on the label

Look for two small letters near the bottom of the label. NM, négociant-manipulant, means a house that buys at least part of its grapes, which covers most of the big names. RM, récoltant-manipulant, means a grower who makes Champagne from their own vineyards. Grower bottles often reflect a single village or plot, and a vintage-like individuality, which is why sommeliers love them. Great Champagne comes from both; the letters simply tell you what kind of story is in the glass.

How to order

  • Aperitif or oysters: Extra Brut or a Blanc de Blancs.
  • A dinner with roast poultry or mushrooms: Blanc de Noirs or a vintage Champagne.
  • Want to explore? Ask for an RM bottle from a village you do not know.
  • Serve well chilled but not icy, in a white-wine glass rather than a narrow flute, and pour in moderation.

Key takeaways

  • Dosage sets sweetness: Brut Nature and Extra Brut are drier than Brut.
  • Blanc de Blancs is made only from white grapes, mostly Chardonnay.
  • Non-vintage ages at least 15 months; vintage at least three years.
  • RM on the label means a grower who makes Champagne from their own grapes.
#wine#Champagne#sparkling wine#grower Champagne#Blanc de Blancs

FAQ

What is the difference between Brut and Extra Brut?

Brut has less than 12 grams of sugar per litre; Extra Brut has between 0 and 6, so it tastes drier and more precise.

What does Blanc de Blancs mean?

It means a white Champagne made only from white grapes, which in practice is almost always Chardonnay.

What is grower Champagne?

Champagne made by a grower from their own grapes, shown by the letters RM (récoltant-manipulant) on the label.

See the Man Target rankings: the Champagnes our editors would pour again.

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