The term "brut" entered the wine dictionary in the mid-19th century. Until then, champagne was an extremely sweet wine, so much so that it could only be consumed at the end of a meal. In order to differentiate one established French winery from its competitors and attract a wider range of consumers, it decided to market a type of drier wine that had never been produced before. It was a huge success, even though it was far from the "taste" of the time. Interesting fact: compared to the wines we call today brut, it was much sweeter at the time.