mousseux

sparkling wine

noun moo-SUH Rare

Usage Note

Mousseux (as a noun) refers to any sparkling wine that is not Champagne — for example a Crémant or a Cava sold in France. As an adjective it means 'frothy' or 'sparkling': une boisson mousseuse. Champagne is technically a mousseux, but referring to it that way is considered a social blunder in France.

Examples

"Ils ont trinqué avec un mousseux bon marché."

Natural Translation

They toasted with an inexpensive sparkling wine.

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