Styles
What the words on the label mean: blanc de blancs, rosé, vintage, zero dosage, pét-nat and the codes that tell you who made the wine.
Colour and grapes
Blanc de blancsWhite sparkling wine made only from white grapesWhite wine from white grapes onlyBlanc de noirsWhite sparkling wine from black-skinned grapesWhite wine from black grapesRosé sparkling winePink sparkling wine by blending or by skin contactAssemblage, saignée, macerationSparkling redRed wine made sparkling or semi-sparkling, best known as LambruscoLambrusco and other red sparkling wines
Age and vintage
Vintage (millésime)Sparkling wine from a single stated harvest: 85% in EU law, 100% in ChampagneWine from one stated harvest yearNon-vintage (sans année)A house's blended style with no stated yearBlend of the latest harvest and reserve winesMulti-vintageA deliberate blend of several harvests; legally non-vintageProducer term, no legal definitionLate-disgorged (récemment dégorgé)Wine kept long on its lees and disgorged shortly before releaseLong on lees, disgorged shortly before releasePrestige cuvéeA house's top-of-range wine, often with its own name and bottleCommercial category, no legal definitionSingle-vineyard (lieu-dit, clos)Wine from one named site: lieu-dit in Champagne, Rive in Prosecco, Paraje in CavaSparkling wine from one named site
Sweetness
Brut nature (zero dosage)The driest EU sweetness term: under 3 g/L, no sugar addedUnder 3 g/L sugar, nothing added after the second fermentationPas dosé'Not dosed': an EU language variant of brut natureLegal equivalent of brut natureSweet sparkling: demi-sec and douxSparkling wines with obvious sweetness and their legal sugar bandsDemi-sec 32-50 g/L, doux above 50 g/LAsti (Asti spumante)Moscato bianco sparkling wine from Piedmont, usually tank-madePiedmont DOCG from Moscato biancoMoscato d'AstiSweet, lightly sparkling, low-alcohol Moscato from the Asti DOCGSweet, lightly sparkling, 4.5-6.5% volSatènFranciacorta from white grapes at lower pressure, sold only as brutFranciacorta DOCG type: white grapes, at most 5 atm, brut only
Who made it
Champagne label codes: NM, RM, CM, RC, SR, ND, MATwo letters before the registration number that show the type of businessWho made or sold the bottleGrower ChampagneChampagne made and sold by the grower who farms the grapesTrade term; closest legal category is RMCuvée vs tailleFirst and second juice from a 4,000 kg Champagne press loadThe two press fractions of Champagne