In this article, you will learn what the wine terms spumante and brut mean.
Quick answer: Spumante means sparkling wine in Italian. Brut, for wine, means a dry style of sparkling wine with up to one quarter teaspoon of sugar in a small (4.4 oz) glass.
Spumante vs brut
Spumante and brut are both labelling terms for wine that mean very different things and are not comparable.
Spumante means a wine that is bubbly or sparkling, whereas brut means a dry style of sparkling wine with low sugar levels.
Spumante meaning
The term spumante means “sparkling” in Italian, and it’s used to describe a variety of sparkling wines from Italy, including Prosecco, Asti Spumante, and Franciacorta.
So, the term spumante on a wine label indicates a bubbly or sparkling wine.
Spumante is not a reference or indicator of sweetness in wine.
The bubbles in sparkling wine come from carbon dioxide trapped during fermentation.
The pressure inside a bottle of spumante can vary depending on the style.
Spumante typically has 3-6 atmospheres (atm) of pressure, similar to Champagne.
Frizzante is a sparkling wine with a lower pressure, around 1-2.5 atm, giving it a gentler fizz.
Spumante Asti
Spumante Asti, often called Asti Spumante, is a sweet Italian sparkling wine from the Asti region in Piedmont.
It is made primarily from Moscato Bianco grapes and is known for its fruity flavors of peach, apricot, and honey, with a light and refreshing sparkle.
Unlike dry sparkling wines, Asti Spumante is sweet and low in alcohol, making it perfect for desserts or celebrations.
Its gentle bubbles and fragrant aroma make it a favorite for those who enjoy a sweeter style of wine.
Brut meaning
Brut is an official term used for sparkling wines that denotes sweetness levels.
The word brut means dry and Brut Champagnes and sparkling wines are typically dry in style.
There is 0-12 grams of residual sugar per liter in a Brut wine.
High acidity in wines, like Champagne, balance out residual sugar levels. This is why Brut wine usually tastes dry or mostly dry even though a small glass (4.4 oz) can have up to a quarter teaspoon of sugar.
It is not easy as a consumer to understanding what brut really means because wine is usually sold in 75 cl (750 ml) bottles and not per liter.
So, I have done the math to convert this into more digestible and meaningful terms.
The table below lists how much sugar is in Brut wine in grams and teaspoons per bottle and typical glass sizes.
| Size | Brut sugar level | Teaspoon(s) max |
| 75 cl bottle | Up to 9 grams of sugar | 1 ¾ approx (1.7) |
| 125 ml (4.4 oz) glass | Up to 1.5 grams of sugar | ¼ tsp approx (.29) |
| 150 ml (5.3 oz) glass | Up to 1.8 grams of sugar | ⅓ tsp approx (.34) |
| 175 ml (6.1 oz) glass | Up to 2.1 grams of sugar | ⅖ tsp approx (.40) |
Brut is one of seven labelling terms that denote sweetness levels in Champagne and sparkling wine from dry to sweet.
See the infographic below for details on what each level is called and their respective sweetness levels.
I recommend saving this infographic to your phone to reference the next time you are buying sparkling wine.
