Is it just a name?

 

If we had not seen it on the French news last night, we would have thought it was a bad dream.

The Russian president has just passed a law stating that only the word champagne is reserved for domestic products and all others need to be labelled as sparkling wine.

Needless to say French champagne producers are not happy but it is a case of national pride versus putting food on the table as champagne sales have been  low as a result of the coronavirus restrictions with hotels and restaurants closed for many months around the world and it will take some time for the market to recover. 

The LVMH group, which owns Moet, the centuries-old company, has agreed to change it's  labels describing it as ‘sparkling wine’. Although produced in the Champagne region of France since 1743, the new Russian law  bans it and its foreign-made competitors from using the name. Instead, only Russian fizz will be able to use the term.

” The ‘sparkling wine" designation will have to be printed on the back of the bottle, but not the front".

For me the word Champagne is not just a name, images of France spring to mind, chateaux, vineyards, getting dressed up, romantic nights, celebrations and the list goes on.

Champagne is publicity for France everytime a cork is popped around the world and "sparkling wine" just does not have the same effect.

If someone asked if I would like a glass of sparkling wine versus a glass of champagne, I know which I would take.

Russia may think they have played their trump card but I have a feeling this history is far from finished.....

This talk about champagne is making me thirsty and I need to retrieve a bottle from our cellar to pop in the fridge.

Leeann x