Can you take a guess how many Champagne styles there are?
No one really knows! Champagne comes in various styles, with the most prevalent ones outlined below. The European Union’s labeling terms for sweetness in sparkling wines apply to all these types:
• Non-vintage or NV – This type of Champagne is crafted from a blend of wines produced in various years. Typically, it adheres to a consistent house style, as blending different base wine parcels with select wines from previous vintages helps smooth out variations from year to year, resulting in a product that maintains a similar profile annually.
• Vintage – By law, this wine must consist entirely of grapes harvested in the specified year. Ideally, vintage wines are crafted from the finest years; however, producers’ opinions on which years are considered exceptional can vary. Some years are so favorable that vintage is almost universally recognized—such as 2002 and 2008. While vintage wines reflect the House’s signature style, they also showcase unique characteristics from the growing season.
• Rosé —In Champagne, these pink wines are typically made by blending red and white wines. In French, they are referred to as rosé d’assemblage. Alternatively, skin maceration of black grapes is allowed, after which the wine is “bled off” from the skins, known in French as rosé de saignée.
• Blanc de Blancs – This term refers to a white wine made exclusively from white grapes. Such wines can taste leaner and more austere when young but often possess remarkable aging potential.
• Blanc de Noirs – These are white wines produced solely from black grapes. They tend to be fuller-bodied than Blanc de Blancs and are believed to age more quickly.
• Grand Cru—This label indicates quality by indicating that all grapes were sourced from vineyards in Grand Cru villages.
• Premier Cru – Similar to Grand Cru, this term is a quality indicator. It signifies that the grapes were grown in vineyards classified as either premier cru or grand cru.
• Prestige Cuvée – Typically regarded as the flagship wine of a Champagne house, some producers, like Krug, focus exclusively on crafting a variety of prestige cuvées. These wines result from an exacting selection of the best grapes, combined with meticulous winemaking techniques, and can be either non-vintage or vintage.
• Late release, recently disgorged wines – These wines undergo extended aging on the lees and are disgorged just before their market release, making them ready for immediate enjoyment. They possess a different flavor profile compared to other wines from the same vintage that were disgorged earlier, initially presenting a more youthful character. After disgorgement, these wines age more rapidly than standard vintage ones, as the effects of oxygen exposure and liquid disturbance during disgorgement are believed to be more pronounced in older wines. Bollinger’s R.D. or Dom Pérignon’s P2 are examples of this style.
But wait! There’s more!
All these styles can be created at six different sweetness levels from driest to sweetest:
Zéro dosage 0–3 g/L sugar (growing in popularity)
Extra Brut 0–6 g/L
Brut 0–12 g/L (most common)
Extra-Sec 12–17 g/L
Sec 17–32 g/L
Demi-Sec 32–50 g/L
Doux/Sweet 50+ g/L (
So, the styles above times sweetness levels may lead to the infinite number of combinations. This is why it’s hardly possible to say how many styles of Champagne there are.
Still, there’s definitely one with your name on it, even if you think you don’t like Champagne right now.