New Years Eve and the holidays bring many occasions to pop open a bottle of bubbly. You head to the store and you see all those bottles with the sparkly foil and wonder what in the heck is what? What does that little word on some of the bottles mean, Brut? You ask yourself, 'Do I want that?'

There are other words on the bottle that can sometimes be confusing. Natural, Brut, Extra Dry, Sec and Doux to name a few.

  • Natural. This is very dry. Not seen in too many places, but very dry.
  • Brut. Dry and very commonly seen in stores and shops.
  • Extra Dry. This is the 'one in the middle.' Not too dry and not yet sweet. I find this to be the one to make Mimosas or Kir Royals with. If you are not sure what to get get this.
  • Demi-Sec or half dry. This is getting a bit sweet.
  • Doux. Sweet

Then there are other words that you might come into contact with when you look for sparkling wine at the store. What is Cava? Spanish sparkling wine. It too has specific rules as to what can be called Cava. What is Prosecco? Italian sparkling wine. Again, this will also be from a specific place in Italy and is made from specific grapes. I will not bore you with that info. However, I would encourage you to try many different ones. If a sparkling wine (and I will use that term for all bubbly wines, regardless of where they are made) does not have one of those words on it, brut, extra dry, etc, they will usually signify that they are extra dry, or just not so dry.

It can be confusing, but always remember to ask what the differences are between each brand and to keep track of which ones you like as well as which ones you didn't. Once you start writing things down you will start to notice a pattern, that pattern is what you like. Enjoy your bubbly and cheers to a fabulous 2020!!

Listen to the WRRV Morning Grind With Brandi and Nick weekday mornings from 6AM to 10AM on 92.7/96.9 WRRV. Stream us live through the website, your Alexa-enabled device, Google Home or the WRRV mobile app.

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