Two years after a summit battle between Paris and Moscow over the appellation of the world's most famous sparkling wine, some 16,000 winemakers and 370 Champagne houses remain at the forefront of protecting the legendary drink. On Wednesday, the interprofession grouped within the Champagne Committee destroyed nearly 35,000 bottles of a soda from Haiti, baptized with the name of "Couronne Fruit Champagne".
An abusive use discovered by the customs of Le Havre two years ago, which the judicial court of Paris deemed likely "to degrade the appellation champagne" according to the committee. Recognized as an appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) since 1936, the name champagne remains reserved for a production area of 34,300 hectares in 319 communes, 150 km east of Paris, with strict specifications. But the attraction generated by the brand pushes the strangest excesses, from beers to sodas, perfumes, candles or yogurts ...
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The Committee allocates €2 million per year to monitoring, for a thousand ongoing cases. "90% of them relate to products that cannot cause confusion," explains Charles Goemaere, director general of the committee. On the remaining 10%, there is a risk of deception and therefore of major impact in terms of image." This temptation to take unfair advantage of the prestigious name is not expected to dry up, as global demand for precious bubbles has never been stronger.