Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.

Conflict bubbles over Swiss "Champagne"

by Jeremy Kressmann (RSS feed) on Apr 7th 2008 at 10:20AM

The French are a particularly jealous bunch when it comes to the sparkling wine better known as Champagne. As Anna pointed out in this earlier post, European trade laws mandate that only sparkling wine from the French region of the same name can truthfully be labeled as "Champagne." The French government has taken numerous steps to preserve their ownership of this name, going so far as to restrict the number of French vineyards that can operate within the Champagne region and filing numerous lawsuits against other wines that try to use it.

But lately, French efforts to restrict the Champagne brand name seem to be getting out of hand. As this article reports, the small Swiss town of Champagne, first named in the year 885, is fighting the French government to continue using the city's name on its local wine. Apparently the city used to sell as many as 110,000 bottles of local wine using the town's name, a quantity that fell to only 32,000 bottles last year when the Champagne name was removed from the label. That's quite a difference.

While the whole naming controversy does seem a bit silly, I can understand the rationale. The French have cultivated a world famous brand and have profited handsomely from its popularity. The same is true of any other famous foodstuff, be it vodka from Russia, steaks from Argentina or oranges from Florida. But just how much of the popularity of a famous food brand is hype and how much is substance? Some will argue that nothing beats the "real thing," but ultimately I think it's a question that can only be answered by our stomachs. Some might scoff, but maybe a Swiss Champagne is equally as good as a French one? France, it's time to grab a glass of bubbly and chill out.

Filed under: Food and Drink, Europe, France, Switzerland

Search Travel Deals

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mike Barish Apr 7th 2008 2:36PM

I purchased some store brand cotton swabs last week. They are NOT as good as Q-Tips. Sometimes the name does mean something.

richblackmon Apr 19th 2008 2:16PM

Your post failed to mention the Swiss wines which this story refers to are in fact non-sparkling red and white table wines that bear no resemblance and are not in direct competition with the French bubbly. Some have been in production bearing the villages name since at least the 9th century, while the French Champagne production only dates back to the 18th century. The lunacy as even extended to locally famous 'Champagne' biscuits produced since the 1800's in the local cookie factory which have been forced by the EU to change their name as well, resulting in a drastic drop in sales.