What to Know About Sparkling Wine

Sparkling wine is a popular drink, especially on festive occasions. From “Extra Brut” to “Doux”, the sparkling wine comes in different flavors with varying sugar content. We inform you about calories and alcohol content of sparkling wine and give you tips on shelf life and storage. Learn everything you need to know about sparkling wine.

Sparkling wine: calories and alcohol content

Sparkling wine is always a foaming drink of at least 3.5 bar overpressure. It is always made from wine and through a second fermentation. Sparkling wine usually contains between 11 and 12% alcohol by volume.

Like alcohol in general, sparkling wine is not a drink for the slim line: 100 milliliters of sparkling wine provide about 60 to 80 kilocalories.

Brut, Dry and Demi-Sec – what does it mean?

Sparkling wines are first distinguished by their color: white, rosé or red. The additional designation “Blanc de Noir” means that a white sparkling wine has been produced from red grapes, for example, from red Pinot Noir grapes). In terms of sweetness, you have a choice of flavors:

Flavor Residual sugar content
Extra Brut / Extra Herb up to 6g/l
Brut / Herb up to 15 g/l
Extra Dry / Extra Dry 12-20 g/l
Dry / Dry 17-35 g/l
Semi-dry / Demi-sec 35-50 g/l
Mild / Doux over 50 g/l

The more sweet you want your sparkling wine, the more residual sugar the sparkling wine should have. In Germany, the dry sparkling wines are the most sold. In vintage sparkling wines, the grapes come from one vintage. Vineyard sparkling wines are made from a single grape variety, such as Riesling, Chardonnay or Pinot Noir.

Storage and shelf life of sparkling wine

In order for sparkling wine to properly develop its flavor, the correct drinking temperature is important. Storage in normal refrigerators is ideal. White sparkling wine tastes best at a temperature of 5 to 7 degrees Celsius, rosé at a temperature of 6-8 degrees Celsius and red sparkling wine from 9 to 11 degrees Celsius. Temperatures that are too cold damage the bouquet, i.e. the aroma of the sparkling wine. Too warm temperatures disturb the effervescence and the taste.

Like wine, sparkling wine should not be stored for longer periods, as it does not improve by being stored for more than a year. It also causes the sparkling wines to lose their mousseux.