Editing Champagne (section)

===Sweetness===
Just after disgorgement a "liqueur de dosage"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://maisons-champagne.com/en/appellation/stages-in-winemaking/preparation-for-shipment-many-years-later/article/dosage|title = Dosage – Union des Maisons de Champagne}}</ref> or liqueur d’expédition{{dash}}a blend of, typically, cane sugar and wine (sugar amounts up to 750&nbsp;g/litre){{dash}}is added to adjust the levels of sugar in the Champagne when bottled for sale, and hence the sweetness of the finished wine. Today sweetness is generally not looked for per se, and dosage is used to fine tune the perception of acidity in the wine.

For Caroline Latrive, cellar master of Ayala, a Champagne house that pioneered drier champagnes at the end of the 19th century, dosage represents the final touch in champagne making and must be as subtle as possible to bring the right balance.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dosage in Champagne – Past, Present, Future |url=https://www.bestchampagne.net/glossary/dosage/ |access-date=2022-03-22 |website=BESTCHAMPAGNE |language=en-US}}</ref>

Additionally, dosage protects champagne from oxidation because it includes a small amount of [[Sulfur dioxide|{{SO2}}]], and sugar also acts as a preservative. Benoît Gouez, cellar master of Moët & Chandon says that sugar helps champagne recover from the oxidative shock of disgorgement, and contributes to the wine's aging potential.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-03-29 |title=Interview with Benoît Gouez Chef de Caves of Moët & Chandon |url=https://www.bestchampagne.net/interviews/benoit-gouez-moet-chandon/ |access-date=2022-03-22 |website=BESTCHAMPAGNE |language=en-US}}</ref>

Wines labeled ''{{lang|fr|Brut Zero}}'', more common among smaller producers,<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |author=Eric Pfanner |title=Champagne Decoded: The Degrees of Sweet |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/22/dining/22iht-wine22.html |access-date=10 March 2013 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=21 December 2012 }}</ref> have no added sugar and will usually be very dry, with less than three grams of residual sugar per litre in the finished wine. The following terms are used to describe the sweetness of the bottled wine:

* ''{{lang|fr|Extra Brut}}'' (less than 6&nbsp;grams of sugar per litre)
* ''{{lang|fr|Brut}}'' (less than 12&nbsp;grams)
* ''Extra Dry'' (between 12 and 17&nbsp;grams)
* ''{{lang|fr|Sec}}'' (between 17 and 32&nbsp;grams)
* ''{{lang|fr|Demi-sec}}'' (between 32 and 50&nbsp;grams)
* ''{{lang|fr|Doux}}'' (50&nbsp;grams)

The most common style today is ''{{lang|fr|Brut}}''. However, throughout the 19th century and into the early 20th century Champagne was generally much sweeter than it is today. Moreover, except in Britain, Champagne was drunk as [[dessert wine]]s (after the meal), rather than as table wines (with the meal).<ref>''Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines,'' [[Henry Vizetelly]] (1879), [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20889/20889-h/20889-h.htm pp. 213–214]:<br />
"Manufacturers of champagne and other sparkling wines prepare them dry or sweet, light or strong, according to the markets for which they are designed. The sweet wines go to Russia and Germany, the sweet-toothed Muscovite regarding M. Louis Roederer's syrupy product as the beau-idéal of champagne, and the Germans demanding wines with 20 or more per cent. of liqueur, or nearly quadruple the quantity that is contained in the average champagnes shipped to England. France consumes light and moderately sweet wines; the United States gives a preference to the intermediate qualities; China, India, and other hot countries stipulate for light dry wines; while the very strong 214 ones go to Australia, the Cape, and other places where gold and diamonds and such-like trifles are from time to time "prospected." Not merely the driest but the very best wines of the best manufacturers, and commanding of course the highest prices, are invariably reserved for the English market. Foreigners cannot understand the marked preference shown in England for exceedingly dry sparkling wines. They do not consider that as a rule they are drunk during dinner with the plats, and not at dessert, with all kinds of sweets, fruits, and ices, as is almost invariably the case abroad."</ref> At this time, Champagne sweetness was instead referred to by destination country, roughly as:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oneblockwest.com/gout-americain/ |title=Goût Américain |last= Matthews |first=Ed |website= One Blog West |date=2010-01-10 |access-date=2019-06-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702141551/http://oneblockwest.com/gout-americain/ |archive-date=2017-07-02}}</ref>
* ''{{lang|fr|Goût anglais}}'' ("English taste", between 22 and 66&nbsp;grams); note that today ''{{lang|fr|goût anglais}}'' refers to [[aging of wine|aged]] vintage Champagne
* ''{{lang|fr|Goût américain}}'' ("American taste", between 110 and 165&nbsp;grams)
* ''{{lang|fr|Goût français}}'' ("French taste", between 165 and 200&nbsp;grams)
* ''{{lang|fr|Goût russe}}'' ("Russian taste", between 200 and 300&nbsp;grams)
Of these, only the driest English is close to contemporary tastes.