🍷 Doux
The sweetest sparkling wine.
Doux is the French word for 'sweet'. In sparkling wine it is the sweetest level: such a bottle has more than 50 g/l of sugar.
The sweetness of a sparkling wine is set by the dosage. After disgorgement a little wine with sugar is added to the bottle, and the amount of sugar decides the label term. The scale runs from brut nature, with almost no sugar, through brut, extra dry and sec to demi-sec (32–50 g/l) and finally doux.
Other languages have matching words: Italian dolce, Spanish dulce, German mild. Doux sparkling wines are rare today, but in the 19th century very sweet Champagne was common.
Sweet sparkling wines are made in France, Italy and Spain. A similarly sweet example is Asti, but its sweetness comes from the grapes, not from dosage. Next to doux on the scale stands demi-sec.
Links
- Part of
- 🍷 Dosage
- Where it is made
- 🗺️ French wine, 🗺️ Italian wine, 🗺️ Spanish wine
- Similar and different
- 🍷 Demi-sec, 🍷 Asti
Frequently asked questions
What does doux mean on Champagne?
It is the sweetest sparkling style, with more than 50 g/l of sugar.
How is doux different from demi-sec?
Demi-sec has 32–50 g/l of sugar, while doux has over 50 g/l, so it is even sweeter.
Where does the sweetness in doux come from?
Usually from the dosage, the sweet addition made after disgorgement.
Similar
🍷 Sec · 🍷 Brut nature · 🍷 Extra brut · 🍷 Demi-sec · 🍷 Brut · 🍷 Extra dry
⚠️ Wine contains alcohol: adults only, drink in moderation. Wine usually contains sulphites; egg white or milk proteins are sometimes used for fining — important for allergies and for vegans.
Sources
- Wikipedia (en)
- EU Delegated Regulation 2019/33 (labelling, sugar terms)
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Wine