This is an update on the article I wrote entitled “Is It Champagne Or Sparkling Wine?”. Which you can find at http://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2014/03/its-not-sparkling-wine-its-champagne.html. Since this article was written I have e-mailed Korbel concerning their use of the term "Champagne" and inquired of them as to how they are able to currently use that term. To their credit I received an e-mail back from Korbel which shed some light on the above mentioned article and prompted me to further research the subject. I would like to thank them for the information they provided. Due to this information I would now like to update an article and share what I found with you, my readers. To put it simply Korbels answer was that they were Grandfathered in because they had been using the word "Champagne" prior to the latest agreement. In my research I have found this to be true. Korbel has actually been using the word "Champagne" since the late 1800's.
I don't know about you but for many years I had thought (or was fooled into thinking) that if a bottle of wine had the term "Napa" on it then it had to come from Napa Valley. Since becoming The Desert Wine Guy I have learned many things about grapevines and wine and one of those things i learned is that there is so much controversy over the words "Napa", "Champagne", Calistoga" (Calistoga Cellars had to change its name) , Bordeaux, Chianti & Madeira and many others names. There are agreements that supersede agreements, exceptions to agreements and exceptions to the exceptions. In this followup article I will attempt to discuss some of those agreements. While doing my research I came across updates to the updates and small agreements or treaties that supersede other agreements or treaties to the point that I have no idea where anything stands and I don't think anyone else does either. Read the article and do some research yourself and I think you will come to the same conclusion. I think it basically comes down to the only agreements that are working to any extent are agreements that are made in America and pertaining to American products. Here is a page from the B.A.T.F that might help but then again might add more confusion to the issue. http://www.ttb.gov/agreements/us_ec_wine_agreement.shtml
It seems this whole controversy over certain words relating to wines began in 1919 when France added a provision to The Treaty of Versailles which ended World War I. The provision limited the word "Champagne". The U.S never signed this treaty however. During that time the U.S was in the middle of Prohibition and alcohol-labeling was not an important issue at the time. There were producers of wine at the time (for religious reasons) that decided on their own as a courtesy to use the term Sparkling Wine" instead of Champagne. This controversy over different wine names or varietals was later followed up on in agreement formed in 1933 called the Canada-France Trade Agreement. The agreement enabled Canada to and France to protect their trademarks and trade names like "Champagne". Though there was an agreement Canada did not lived up to their end of the bargain and continued to use the word "Champagne" on wines that never touched the region of Champagne France. Despite this France did not put up an protest at the time. Flash forward to 1955 where Alexander Simpson who was the President of Chateau-GAi Winery in Niagara Falls, Ontario decided to put up a large display of that particular wineries "Champagne" in a Paris window. This led to an article in a Toronto newspaper and Magazine who did an article on the event. France at that time complained but Canada responded by passing a law that allowed domestic wineries to use the word "Champagne" as long as the wine was labeled as "Canadian Champagne". France went to court in 1964 over this in the form of 15 French producers seeking an injunction on using the word "Champagne". The French won and of course Mr. Simpson appealed only to lose in 1974 when the Quebec Supreme Court sided for France. The decision however only applied to the Quebec province. The French then moved to enforce the law in Ontario in 1975 & 76. A sort of death blow to the agreement occurred when a newspaper in 1974 pointed out that France failed to ratify the agreement. On May 7, 1980 the House of Commons repealed the agreement retroactive to 1978 and Canada was free to use the word "Champagne". In 1987 the Ontarian Supreme Court put an end to the situation by ruling that "Canadian Champagne" is a distinct Canadian product and "not likely" to be confused with French Champagne. The French appealed but lost. Canada still however did not have access to the E.U.
On January 1, 1995 The World Trade Organization was established and with it an organization called the World Wine Producers which both Canada & the United States were a part of. On April 9, 2001 the U.S & Canada formed an agreement entitled Mutual Acceptance Agreement on Oenological Practices. The agreement permitted wine imports from other signatory countries as long as the wines were made in accordance with the producing country's technical wine making regulations and its domestic laws. This was in contrast to the EU's practice of examining and approving every enological practice. The EU much preferred bilateral negotiations. On March 2, 2001 the EU's Wine Management Committee granted Ontario ice wine access to the EU as a step toward improving Canada/Eu cooperation. On April 2003 Canada signed the agreement. This agreement also gave European winemakers the exclusive right to use some "traditional" names in the Canadian market. Names such as Bordeaux, Chianti & Madeira were prohibited. The names such as Chablis, Champagne, Port & Sherry could no longer be used after Dec 31, 2013. Canada won access to ship Canadian wines to EU countries but lost the right to use the term "Champagne". In America the U.S agreed to stop using the terms Chablis, Champagne, Port, Sherry and Chianti. One concession America did get was the grandfathering in of those wines on non-European wines. After a certain date no new brands could use those terms. In America wine Makers have agreed to even stop using the word Calistoga & Napa if the grapes were not grown in Calistoga or Napa. As an added note there is no agreement as far as the use of the word Champagne when used in beer. According to the United States B.A.T.F there is no complaint process to challenge the use of one of the terms on a product and as of this year no one has officially complained.
Where do we stand now? As I stated in my opening paragraph it seems as if the bottom line here is that producers do come under pressure to not use certain words or wine types BUT there doesn't appear to be the political will to enforce anything outside of each country protecting themselves when it comes it imports. Yes there are agreements but there is no real enforcement. What we are left to is the old saying "let the buyer beware. My suggestion is look at the label and see where the grapes are from.
O.K then, after reading all this and hopefully doing your own research here is my bottom line on the subject. If you are at a party and the host hands you a glass filled with a golden liquid that is carbonated and its not soda.....enjoy the Champagne.
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The Desert Wine Guy
Great info. I always wondered how they got away with it. Thanks for taking the time to post.
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