🍾 Armand de Brignac Demi-Sec

Armand de Brignac Demi-Sec is a non-vintage white Champagne in the Demi-Sec style from the house Armand de Brignac in Chigny-les-Roses (Marne).

According to the house, this cuvée was once served only to guests of the house in Chigny-les-Roses; half the blend is wine of the harvest year, the other half reserve wines from two older vintages (25 % each); the dosage is 33 g/l.

Armand de Brignac is a prestige Champagne brand from a house in Chigny-les-Roses; according to the house, every cuvée blends three vintages and uses only the best part of the first-press juice.

The boundaries of the Champagne area were set by a law of 6 May 1919: parts of the Marne, Aube, Aisne, Haute-Marne and Seine-et-Marne departments. The designation’s specification allows seven grape varieties, dominated by Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier; grapes are picked as whole bunches, that is by hand, and the yield is limited to 10,400 kg per hectare.

According to the Comité Champagne, Champagne is served chilled to 8–10 °C, and bottles are kept in the dark at a steady 10–15 °C, without vibration. An opened bottle is best closed with a sparkling-wine stopper and kept cold.

It is sold under the protected designation of origin Champagne: the bubbles come only from a second fermentation in the bottle, and the wine is aged for at least 15 months before sale (36 for vintage). Demi-Sec on the label is an EU sugar term: 32 to 50 g of sugar per litre.

Why it matters to you. No year on the label means it is not a vintage wine: the house may blend wines from different harvests. The WHO reminds: there is no safe level of alcohol.