The Champagne Name and Labeling

Celebrating the winter holidays often means enjoying a bottle of bubbly wine, since its effervescence seems to announce a fete. But not all bubblies may be called "champagne" and beware the use of this word on the label. The use of the name Champagne is regulated by U.S. laws and international agreements.

"But European producers have long recognized the importance of "terroir"—that wine made from grapes grown in a particular location will have a unique taste. The word "terroir" has no English translation. It means place, certainly, but also it implies soil characteristics, climate, and altitude, for example."
from: The Sparkling Wine War; Pitting Trademark Rights Against Geographic Indications. Business Law Today. By Carol Robertson.

Champagne, like any other varietal, is so named because of its place of origin. There are other equally delicious sparkling wines from France that cannot be called Champagne because they come from regions such as Alsace, Burgundy, or the Loire Valley. Under U.S. law, bubbly wines should be denominated "sparkling wine" and not "champagne."

However, a legal loophole in federal law that allows some U.S. sparkling wine producers to mislead consumers by labeling their products “Champagne” even though they do not come from Champagne, France. Champagne, France has formed solidarity on these efforts to correct the misleading terminology with leading American wine regions such as Napa Valley, Willamette, and Walla Walla, some of whose names have also been misused in Europe and Asia.

On December 20, 2006, Congress passed legislation banning the future misuse of 16 wine place names, including Champagne. Nevertheless, the legislation did not address the grandfathering of labels currently incorrectly using Champagne’s name and those of 15 other international wine regions.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB, an agency in the Department of Treasury) explains, "Following years of negotiations, the United States and the European Union (EU) signed an agreement on trade in wine on March 10, 2006. In the agreement the U.S. committed to seeking to change the legal status of the semi-generic names to restrict their use solely to wines originating in the applicable EU member state with certain exceptions, in particular, a “grandfather” provision. Under the “grandfather” provision, any person or their successor of interest may continue to use a semi-generic name on a label of wine not originating in the EU provided the semi-generic name appeared on a Certificate of Label Approval (COLA) that was issued prior to March 10, 2006. It should be noted that the requirement to use the name in direct conjunction with an appropriate appellation of origin disclosing the true place of origin must have been satisfied in order to have received the “grandfathered” Certificate of Label Approval."

Recently Congress has begun to focus on the issue. Members of Congress sent a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury urging a review of the TTB’s wine labeling system.

Enjoy a champagne or sparkling wine for the holidays, but knowing where your wine originates is half the fun of enjoying an effervescent bubbly. Happy holidays, everyone.

Welcome to our new Blog

You've found the blog for Natural Resource Law Group, PLLC from Seattle, where we will be blogging about legal aspects of wine production and sales, the food and beverage industry, wine issues in the news, and other related topics. Wine is a burgeoning industry in the Pacific Northwest, and our focus will naturally be on our region, but we will blog about the law of wine and beverages as it applies nationwide and internationally, as well.

Holiday cheers and happy winemaking,

Jill J. Smith, Principal
Natural Resource Law Group, PLLC
Seattle, WA