All terms

Brut

Brut is a term for the sweetness level in sparkling wine, and it tells you that the wine is dry. When a sparkling wine goes through its second fermentation, where the bubbles form, it often ends up with a small amount of residual sugar, and the degree of sweetness is stated on the label. Brut belongs at the dry end of the scale, where only a little sugar remains. You will find it both on Champagne and on other sparkling wines such as Crémant, Cava and similar styles made by the traditional method.

The term matters for what you taste. A brut comes across as fresh and crisp, and the acidity and fruit are allowed to step forward without being covered by sweetness. That makes the style pleasant with food and as a welcome drink, because it does not become cloying or heavy. If the wine is made by the traditional method with time on the lees, you may also encounter fine notes of bread and brioche behind the fresh character.

A common misunderstanding is that brut means completely without sugar. It does not. There are even drier categories, where the sugar is even lower or absent, so brut is dry, but not bone dry. If you want to recognise it, look for the word on the label, and remember to serve the wine well chilled, so the bubbles and freshness show at their best.