Friday, December 7, 2012

Addendum to "What is Champagne?"

In last night's post entitled What is Champagne I was pointing out that usage of the word champagne is protected by treaties and should apply only to sparkling wines produced in the Champagne region of France.

But I entirely forgot to mention the wines should also be produced under the rules of appellation, even in France. 

And I also failed to mention a couple of major loopholes

One being that not all countries signed the treaties and don't give a hoot about the rules.

The other being that it's grudgingly allowed to use the word champagneas long as the country or region of origin is also clearly present on the label to distinguish it from sparkling wines produced in the Champagne region in France.

Thus in the United States for example you'll see some vineyards that will label their sparkling wines as American Champagne, or California Champagne. A questionable practice as far as I'm concerned, but so be it. 

Sorry for the oversight and confusion. Anyhow, enjoy the bubbly - no matter where the heck it comes from.

Thanks again for reading,

Andrew


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