Wine · Terminology

Dosage

The sugar-and-wine mixture added to sparkling wine after disgorgement — what sets Brut, Extra Brut or Doux.

Dosage is the small addition of wine and sugar — the liqueur d'expédition — made to a bottle of sparkling wine immediately after disgorgement, both to top the bottle back up and to set its final sweetness.

It matters more than the sugar figures suggest. Base wines for traditional-method sparkling are picked early and are searingly acidic; a few grams of sugar soften that edge and make the wine taste balanced rather than austere. Dosage is a balancing tool first and a sweetener second.

In practice

  • The liqueur is usually reserve wine plus cane or beet sugar, sometimes rectified concentrated grape must, occasionally aged in oak.
  • Levels are declared on the label using an EU-wide scale.
  • Zero dosage (brut nature, pas dosé) is fashionable, and works only with very ripe base wine or long lees ageing.
  • Dosage takes weeks to integrate; a freshly disgorged bottle can taste disjointed.

Where you'll meet it

  • Every Champagne label, and every traditional-method sparkling wine.
  • The sparkling wine guide.
  • Prosecco and tank-method wines, where sweetness is adjusted before bottling instead.

The sweetness scale

Term Residual sugar
Brut Nature / Zéro / Pas Dosé 0–3 g/L (nothing added)
Extra Brut 0–6 g/L
Brut 0–12 g/L — the default, and most of the market
Extra Dry / Extra Sec 12–17 g/L
Sec / Dry 17–32 g/L
Demi-Sec 32–50 g/L
Doux 50 g/L +

Note the trap in the middle: Extra Dry is sweeter than Brut, and Sec is sweeter still. The terms are historical, and they catch people out constantly.

How dosage changes with climate

As Champagne's growing season has warmed, base wines have gained ripeness and lost acidity — and average dosage has fallen sharply. Bruts that carried 12 g/L in the 1980s are commonly 6–8 g/L today, and Extra Brut has moved from curiosity to mainstream.

The exam angle

  • Learn the scale, and specifically that Extra Dry > Brut in sweetness.
  • Explain the purpose: balancing high acidity, not making the wine sweet.
  • Know that dosage is added after disgorgement, and that zero-dosage wines need exceptional base material because there is nothing to hide behind.

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