Extra Brut and Brut Nature: 2026 ranking of Champagnes with almost no sugar (October 2026)
Extra Brut is a Champagne with no more than 6 g of sugar per litre, while Brut Nature (pronounced broot na-TEWR) has no more than 3 g and receives none at all after disgorgement. The best place to start is Gosset (pronounced goh-SAY) Excellence Extra Brut, and the furthest you can go is Laurent-Perrier (pronounced lor-ahn pe-ree-ay) Ultra Brut and Abyss from Leclerc Briant (pronounced leh-clair bree-on), both with no added sugar. There are nine entries in the ranking. Moët vintages (pronounced mo-ET) Grand Vintage, which the house also labels as Extra Brut, is described in ranking of vintage Champagnes, a De Saint Gall Blanc de Blancs (pronounced de san gal blahn de blahn) Grand Cru in Blanc de Blancs ranking (pronounced blahn duh BLAHN).
Quick picks
- Pierwszy extra brutGosset Excellence Extra Brut
- Rosé and very dryLeclerc Briant Extra Brut Rosé
- For oysters and raw fishLaurent-Perrier Ultra Brut
- Mature, for cheese and poultryVeuve Clicquot Extra Brut Extra Old
- As a gift for a connoisseurLeclerc Briant Abyss
Methodology: why this order
The order is set by the amount of sugar and the age of the wine: first non-vintage Extra Brut, then vintage Extra Bruts, next Augustin Cuvée Feu with a minimal addition of sugar as a bridge, and finally Champagnes with no added sugar, from a great house's Brut Nature to a grower's bottles and a prestige cuvée. Each producer has at most two entries.
- We include bottles that the producer labels Extra Brut or Brut Nature (also “brut zéro”, “zéro dosage”), or for which the producer, importer or a guide gives added sugar below 3 g per litre. That is how Augustin Cuvée Feu, with about 1 g per litre added, got in; other bottles labelled Brut stay out of the ranking, even if they are low in sugar.
- We give the amount of sugar according to producers, their importers and guides; when we do not know it, we give only the designation on the label.
- The list includes only bottles available in our shop; unavailable bottles and those we bring in to order are described separately from the list.
- We do not award our own points or stars, and we do not use customer reviews. We always give critics' scores with the source; for non-vintage wines we note that batches may differ.
- We give the sugar thresholds according to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33.
- Prices and availability are shown in the product panels, pulled live from the shop.
How much sugar Extra Brut and Brut Nature have
Extra Brut has 0 to 6 g of sugar per litre, Brut Nature 0 to 3 g, and is made without adding sugar.
How much sugar a Champagne has depends mainly on the dosage, a small measure of wine with sugar added to the bottle after disgorgement, when the yeast sediment is removed. The words on the label depend on the size of this addition. The thresholds are set by European Union law, the same for Champagne, crémant and other sparkling wines:
| Label term | Sugar (g/l) |
|---|---|
| Brut Nature (no added sugar) | 0-3 |
| Extra Brut | 0-6 |
| Brut | 0-12 |
| Extra Dry | 12-17 |
| Sec | 17-32 |
| Demi-Sec (pronounced duh-MEE SEK) | 32-50 |
| Doux | over 50 |
The ranges overlap, and the rules allow a difference of up to 3 g per litre between the label and the wine. So a Champagne with 5 g of sugar may be labelled either Extra Brut or Brut; the producer decides. Producers also call Brut Nature “brut zéro” (pronounced zay-roh doh-sahzh), “zéro dosage” or “non dosé”.
What Champagne with almost no sugar tastes like
Sugar in a Brut softens the acidity, as sugar does in lemonade. Without it, Champagne is drier, chalkier and more saline, and you can taste the grapes and the place they come from more clearly. Long ageing on the lees does it good, because mature wine is fuller in its own right. That is why in this style you are more likely to come across vintages and old reserve wines. More in the guide Extra Brut and Brut Nature: what they mean.
Ranking
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Extra Brut to start with
Gosset, founded in Aÿ (pronounced ah-EE) in 1584, is considered the oldest wine house in Champagne. It makes Champagne like wine, without the malolactic fermentation that softens acidity, so its Bruts are fresh and taut. Excellence Extra Brut combines Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier and is more mineral than the house's ordinary Brut. Just right to start with: dry, but not austere. As an aperitif and with fish.
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A rosé Extra Brut from biodynamic vineyards
Leclerc Briant from Épernay (pronounced ay-pair-NAY) is a pioneer of biodynamics in Champagne; Pascal Leclerc-Briant exported the first Champagne without dosage as early as 1970. Extra Brut Rosé combines Chardonnay with Pinot Noir from organic vineyards. It differs from the Gosset in colour and its taste of red fruit (strawberries, raspberries), but without the sweetness we usually associate with rosé Champagne. With salmon tartare and sushi.
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A Champagne made only from reserve wines
Veuve Clicquot (pronounced vuhv klee-KOH) assembles Extra Old entirely from reserve wines, older wines the house keeps to maintain its style every year. It releases it in successive editions. As a result it is mature, nutty and honeyed despite the low sugar, and therefore easier for someone wary of acidity. The first entry on the list in which the age of the wine matters more than freshness. With mature cheeses and poultry.
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A vintage Extra Brut from a grower
Laurent Bénard (pronounced lor-ahn bay-nar) makes wine from the family vineyards in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ (pronounced ma-RUH-ee sewr ah-EE), a premier cru village (pronounced pruh-MYAY KREW) on the Marne, and releases organically farmed Champagnes under his own name. Vendange is a Blanc de Noirs (pronounced blahn duh NWAR) from black varieties from this one village, each year from a single harvest; this bottle is from 2018. The first vintage on the list, and so the first to show a specific year and place. With fish in butter sauce and poultry. More about the producer: Laurent Bénard.
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A prestige cuvée after more than a decade in the cellar
Celebris is the prestige line of Gosseta: vintage Extra Bruts made only in selected years. The 2007 vintage is already a mature wine: little sugar, yet great depth, with candied citrus, hazelnut, honey and toast. Gosset's second and last entry. With lobster, fish in cream sauces and for a once-in-a-lifetime occasion.
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A bridge to Brut Nature: 1 g of sugar per litre
Marc and Emmanuelle Augustin (pronounced oh-gew-stan) farm about 9 ha biodynamically, with Demeter certification, in Avenay-Val-d'Or and Vertus (pronounced vair-tu). Feu, meaning fire, is made only from old-vine Pinot Noir. According to Champagnist the added sugar is 1 g per litre, next to nothing, although formally it is still not a Brut Nature, because sugar has been added. A dry, powerful, pure taste. With duck and mature Comté.
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Brut Nature from a great house
Ultra Brut Laurent-Perrier receives no sugar at all after disgorgement. It has an ancestor: Grand Vin sans Sucre from 1889, a wine from a time when Champagnes could be as sweet as dessert. The house revived it in 1981, before Brut Nature became fashionable. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from ripe vintages give a pure, lemony, chalky wine. The best Champagne on the list for oysters, raw fish and sushi.
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Blanc de Blancs with no sugar and no sulphur
The second bottle Augustina goes further than Feu: Chardonnay alone, with no added sugar and no added sulphur, which most producers use to protect wine from oxidation. It differs from the Laurent-Perrier above all in the absence of sulphur and the scale of production: it is the wine of a small biodynamic estate. Citrus, white flowers, chalk. Once opened, the wine changes quickly and tastes best the same day. With oysters and seafood.
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Abyss: a brut zéro aged on the floor of the Atlantic
The most unusual bottle on the list. Leclerc Briant combines three grape varieties in equal parts in Abyss, adds no sugar, and the bottles spend 15 months at a depth of 60 m off the island of Ouessant in Brittany. Chef de cave Hervé Jestin calls this the “constant dynamisation” of the wine. On the palate, ripe apple, peach and a salty, marine note. 2017 vintage. As a gift for a connoisseur, and with seafood.
Outside the top ten
- Taisne Riocour Blanc de Noirs - The producer labels the current release Extra Brut (3.38 g/l), but older bottles say Brut on the label. The same goes for this producer's Grande Réserve (5.6 g/l). Check the label or look at the ranking of grower Champagnes.
- Leclerc Briant Abyss Rosé - The rosé version of Abyss; Leclerc Briant already has two entries on the list.
- Billecart-Salmon Réserve Extra Brut - Temporarily unavailable.
- René Geoffroy Terre Millésime Extra Brut - A vintage Extra Brut from the grower René Geoffroy of Cumières: temporarily unavailable.
- René Geoffroy Les Houtrants Complantés Premier Cru - René Geoffroy's Brut Nature from a plot where different varieties grow together: temporarily unavailable.
- Drappier Brut Nature - Pinot Noir with no added sugar from a family house in Urville in the Côte des Bar: we bring it in to order.
- Pol Cochet Brut Nature Latitude 48.01 - Brut Nature from Ambonnay: we bring it in to order.
- Forget-Brimont Extra Brut Premier Cru - Premier cru Extra Brut from Ludes: we bring it in to order.
The ranking in a table
| No. | Bottle | Label term | Sugar | Vintage | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gosset Excellence Extra Brut | Extra Brut | up to 6 g/l | non-vintage (NV) | aperitif, fish |
| 2 | Leclerc Briant Extra Brut Rosé | extra brut, rosé | up to 6 g/l | non-vintage (NV) | salmon tartare, sushi |
| 3 | Veuve Clicquot Extra Brut Extra Old | Extra Brut | up to 6 g/l | reserve wines | mature cheeses, poultry |
| 4 | Laurent Bénard Vendange Premier Cru | Extra Brut | up to 6 g/l | 2018 | fish in butter sauce, poultry |
| 5 | Gosset Celebris Extra Brut | Extra Brut | up to 6 g/l | 2007 | lobster, cream sauces |
| 6 | Augustin Cuvée Feu | very little added sugar | ok. 1 g/l dodatku | non-vintage (NV) | kaczka, comté |
| 7 | Laurent-Perrier Ultra Brut | Brut Nature | no added sugar | non-vintage (NV) | oysters, sushi |
| 8 | Augustin Cuvée CXVI | no dosage and no sulphur | no added sugar | non-vintage (NV) | oysters, seafood |
| 9 | Leclerc Briant Abyss | brut zéro | no added sugar | 2017 | owoce morza, prezent |
Bottles we do not sell
We describe them from the label, without scores. Alongside each is the closest bottle in style from our list.
- Louis Roederer Brut Nature - A Champagne with no added sugar from the Louis Roederer house in Reims, made since the 2006 vintage in collaboration with the designer Philippe Starck. Closest in style: Laurent-Perrier Ultra Brut.
The most common mistake: “brut nature” does not mean “natural”
Nature in the name refers to sugar, not to how the vines are farmed. A Brut Nature can come from a conventional vineyard, and a Champagne from organic farming can be sweet. If farming matters to you, look on the label for the organic farming logo or Demeter certification, as with Augustin. The difference between sugar levels is explained in the guide brut, extra dry, demi-sec.
Why Extra Brut does not have to cost more
Less sugar does not make production more expensive; the cost goes up with longer ageing, which is more common in this style. That is why the inexpensive Gosset Excellence sits here alongside pricier vintages and Abyss: you pay for time in the cellar, not for the absence of sugar. If budget matters, take a look at the ranking of Champagnes from 250 to 400 zł.
How to serve a very dry Champagne
Extra Brut and Brut Nature taste best with food: oysters, seafood, raw fish, sushi, and the mature versions with cheese and poultry. Serve them at 8-10 °C, in a white wine glass or a tulip. More in the guide what to serve with Champagne. If you prefer sweeter wines, you will find them in the ranking of sweet Champagnes.
