Can Sparkling Wine From The U.S. Be Called Champagne?

I believe the ATF's successor (can't remember their designation) allows grandfathered use of "semi-generic" terms such as Champagne, Chablis, Chianti, etc domestically. They are not supposed to be exported, and I believe a load of Andre was dramatically destroyed in the EU last year.

Does Piper Sonoma really say Champagne? I'd be very surprised. I thought the only holdouts were industrial crap like Korbel, Cooks, Andre.

Brut of course is a non-geographic designation, and I have never heard of complaints about that usage.

Certain US brands are allowed to use protected names under the so-called grandfather clause in the agreement with the EU. More detals are here:

DaleW wrote on Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:55:05 -0700 (PDT):

D> On Mar 18, 12:19�pm, "Raymond" wrote: ??>> I'd come across several of them. ??>> Example: ??>> 1) Andre Pink Champagne California ??>> 2) Cook's Brut Champagne ??>> 3) Korbel Brut ??>> 4) Piper Sonoma Brut ??>> What's the latest wine law or agreement? ??>> Thanks ??>> Ray

D> I believe the ATF's successor (can't remember their D> designation) allows grandfathered use of "semi-generic" D> terms such as Champagne, Chablis, Chianti, etc domestically. D> They are not supposed to be exported, and I believe a load D> of Andre was dramatically destroyed in the EU last year.

D> Does Piper Sonoma really say Champagne? I'd be very D> surprised. I thought the only holdouts were industrial crap D> like Korbel, Cooks, Andre.

Cooks and Andre are Charmat (tank) process wines and indicate that on the label but Korbel is fermented in the bottle and is not bad at all, IMHO. It is a pity that no-one will risk a public blind tasting like the "Judgment of Paris." The next best thing was Consumer Reports tasting of California products where the wines produced by French-owned companies came out at the top.

James Silverton Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

There is no US law (yet) that prevents such labeling, but EU law forbids it so such wine can't be imported to the EU. Recently, a shipment of Andre "Champagne" was confiscated and destroyed in Belgium. Here's a link to an article about it:

and here's the footage of the destruction, for those voyeurs among us:

Mark Lipton

Or for the actual agreement, and official explanation:

But it's forbidden for new brands, isn't it? Or did the US never actually get around to passing the legislation they agreed to?

Hmm, apparently so. I thought that if a label was legal in the US it could be exported to the EU, but I forgot about all that "Champagne".

It's absurd to me. French wine producers want to use the name Zinfandel because of the huge success it's had in California and elsewhere in the USA. Yet, they don't want the USA to use any names associated with French wines.

Untrue for several reasons, Miles. Firstly, I've yet to hear of a French producer wanting to use the Zinfandel name: it's mostly been Italians who work with Primitivo AFAICT. Secondly, it's a question of apples and oranges: Chamapagne is a _place_ name, like Napa or Sonoma; Zinfandel is a varietal name. Have the French ever complained about our calling wine Pinot Noir or Syrah? No, they haven't. Have we ever complained about wine from elsewhere labeled "Napa"? Just ask Fred Franzia (then duck). It all boils down to deceptive labeling: wine that's not from Champagne (or Napa) is deceptively labeled if it bears that name. Zinfandel from wherever isn't deceptively labeled if what's in the bottle is indeed Zinfandel. Get it?

Mark Lipton

No. It says: "Sonoma County Sparkling Wine", and "Methode Champenoise".

Helping to clear the confusion,

Robb

OK you beat me to it, yes the important thing is the distinction. Place names are protected, not grape names.

However, it is true that Italians using the name Zinfandel or Californians using the name Primitivo could be accused of using tactics that may be legal but are certainly not very "nice", let's say it is not very sportsmanlike, I would go so far as to say it is berlusconian...

The name Zinfandel may be a synonym of Primitivo - and officially recognized by USA and EU - but its usage is definitely tied to a place, to the rich history and culture of wine in America. As an Italian I would never buy a wine from Puglia labelled Zinfandel.

Methode Champenoise is also prohibited by European law. The correct term is Methode Classique.

Methode Champenoise is also prohibited by European law. The correct term is Methode Classique.

LOL

Same for me.

The word in up-to-date italian is "furbetto", I think.

While on the subject, things get even more complicated. In Italy there is a grape that happens to have a name similar to a famous Hungarian wine, it is called Tocai and has been renamed Friulano, the old name being illegal. The same is true of the Alsace tradition of calling Pinot Gris "tokay". So apparently the law also applies to grape names that have the same name as a recognized wine place. Yet the name probably comes from the Slovenian "tocai" (pron. with a soft C like in "cherry") that means "local", much as Vernaccia means "local" (as in "vernacular").

Let me give you another example. About 20 years ago a french company set up a factory in a place called Aoste, near Grenoble, to make ham. Aoste had previously never seen a pig, even in a magazine. With an obvious allusion to the famous ham of Aosta in Italy, the company became successful selling "Jambon d'Aoste", you could not miss it in any supermarket here, even the packages were coloured in red white and green stripes. Until they were forced by law to changing their methods, now they still sell ham, but the label simply says "Aoste". I am not sure where the improvement is...

some time ago (sorry I have not got a reference, but my source was a senior WSET tutor) a "champagne" tasting in Paris was carried out in two stages:

1. all wines blind - a particular wine came top

1. all wines "open" - the same wine came bottom

the wine in question:

Nyetimber, produced in West Sussex, England

more info on Nyetimber:

pk

If it's from England, it's probably terrible.

JUST KIDDING! I think...