A happy medium

There comes a point at the end of a good dinner when the tastebuds cry out for a glass of fizz. But after starters and a main course, and with puddings about to arrive, brut Champagne is completely wrong. Perfect as an aperitif, brut Champagne is just too dry and crisp to cope with even a light, fruity dessert.

Now a different style of Champagne is gradually making a comeback. Demi-sec hovers between dry and sweet, with enough roundness and body to take on the challenge of desserts, while still retaining a crisp, lively finish that is characteristic of good champagne.

These days, there are several brands on the market and even some supermarkets have launched their own demi-secs. I have tasted several on their own, but have never had the chance to taste a range of demi-secs with their ideal partner – desserts. Rather than stay at home to rustle up a range of my tried and tested puds, I decided to call in the experts.

With four bottles demi-sec tucked under one arm, I set off for the historic and rather beautiful setting of Middlethorpe Hall on the outskirts of York. Now a National Trust property, this 17th century country house is one of just three UK hotels owned by the trust and its grand dining room was perfect for an afternoon of tasting in the company of Sommelier Gwenael Sanchez and Middlethorpe’s general manger Lionel Chatard. With head chef Nicolas Evans conjuring up a whole collection of delicious desserts, this was the perfect opportunity to pitch demi-sec against the puds.

But first of all, what makes a demi-sec sweet? Almost all Champagne has a tiny amount of sugar added to the wine just before the final cork goes in the bottle. This balances the wine’s natural crisp acidity and rounds out the flavours. Brut is the usual style of champagne and it has about half a teaspoonful of sugar added per bottle, which goes in as an addition of sweetened wine at the final stage of bottling. There is a style which has no sugar added, called Brut Sauvage, or Zero Dosage, both wonderful with oysters but they can be rather tart on their own.

Moving up the sweetness scale is the confusingly named Extra Dry style. This has a little more sweetness and it is a very popular, particularly for afternoon standing-up sipping such as at a wedding, when food can be a long time coming. Even more confusing is Sec, which translates as Dry but is slightly sweeter still, and then comes Demi-Sec, an almost sweet champagne which is starting to re-appear on our shelves as a suitable taste to go with light desserts and afternoon tea.

These are not just regular Champagnes with sugar stirred in. Each one is created using base wines from across the Champagne region, blended to balance the weight of sweetness which will eventually be added. They are aged for a minimum of 15 months, but often for many years to develop structure and complexity in the final wine.

The wines on test this week were from four of my favourite champagne producers: Pol Roger Rich; Veuve Clicquot Demi-Sec; Roederer Carte Blanche and Moët Ice Imperial. This last wine is newly launched, developed especially to be served over ice.

These were lined up against four of Middlethorpe’s exquisite desserts: a hot gooseberry soufflé accompanied by gooseberry fool and an elderflower jelly; a plate of Yorkshire strawberries with basil ice cream and polenta cake; vanilla panna cotta with poached peaches and raspberry sorbet and a dark chocolate délice with caramel popcorn and ice cream.

The Champagnes were tasted first on their own and then with the desserts, to find out which combinations worked and which didn’t.

Pol Roger Rich (£35, Mainly Wine and Whisky, Bawtry, 01302 714700): Characteristically clean as a whistle, with light fruit and a touch of honey on the nose, the palate is surprisingly deep, rounded and elegant while the sweetness appears fleetingly across the palate before crisp freshness cuts in to finish. This emerged as the favourite in the pack, hitting exactly the right notes to accompany the gooseberry soufflé as well as Yorkshire strawberries and the raspberry sorbet element in the vanilla panna cotta dish, although it was challenged by the chocolate desert.

Roederer Carte Blanche (Majestic, normally £35, down to £29 until August 29): With 50 per cent Pinot Noir in the blend, and a high proportion of wood aged reserve wines, this is a complex wine, weighty and round with floral and honey notes and a harmonious palate which carries its sweetness lightly and smoothly. This managed to balance the gooseberry fool with ease and coped with all the elements of the vanilla panna cotta dish and with the strawberries. It struggled against the chocolate dessert, but overall its weight and elegant style coped with a wide range of tastes.

Veuve Clicquot Demi-Sec (Majestic normally £37, down to £34 until August 29): With ripe candied fruits on the nose, baked brioche and a definite sweetness across the palate, this wine was just too sweet for the gooseberry fool but it was perfect with the panna cotta and it even took the chocolate délice in its stride. Its rich, rounded flavours were not subdued by the desserts but sat alongside adding a counterpoint of flavour and fizz.

Moet Ice Impérial (new launch, still only available in bars, but should retail at about £35): This is a new style of champagne, specially created to be served over ice with a demi-sec level of sweetness. Tasted without ice, it has a bright floral and ripe apples aroma, with a soft, sweet texture but when poured over ice it changes completely. Bright, clean and apparently much drier, it really didn’t try to match the food. This is a Champagne to be enjoyed at summer parties and race days and when it eventually works through to the stores will appeal to a young market who like their fizz ice-cold and clean.

As a treat, to round off an afternoon of sweet delights, Chef Nicholas appeared with just one more dish – a pan-fried duck liver with onion marmalade and sherry vinegar. This was good with Pol Roger Rich, the clean acidity cutting through the richness of the dish, but my favourite was the Roederer Carte Blanche which managed to harmonise with the onion marmalade as well as the liver.