Young Curly Brunette Girl In A White Chemise Celebrating With Champagne In The Room With An Antique Table, Chairs And Curtains

Even the term méthode champenoise or champagne method was forbidden consequent to an EU court decision in 1994. As of 2005, the description most often legally used for sparkling wines not from Champagne yet using the second fermentation in the bottle process is méthode traditionnelle. Sparkling wines are produced worldwide, and many producers use special terms to define them: Spain uses cava, Italy designates it spumante, and South Africa uses cap classique. An Italian sparkling wine made from the muscat grape uses the DOCG asti. In Germany, Sekt is a common sparkling wine. Other French wine regions cannot use the name Champagne: e.g., Burgundy and Alsace produce Crémant. Sparkling wines mislabeled Champagne can be and often are seized and destroyed by legal authorities.
Regardless of the legal requirements for labeling, extensive education efforts by the Champagne region and the use of alternative names by non-Champagne quality sparkling wine producers, some consumers and wine sellers continue to regard champagne as a generic term for white sparkling wines, regardless of origin. The laws described above are intended to reserve the term as a designation of origin.
The village of Champagne, Switzerland has traditionally made a still wine labeled as "champagne", the earliest records of viticulture dated to 1657. In an accord with the EU, the Swiss government conceded in 1999 that by 2004 the village would phase out use of the name. Sales dropped from 110,000 bottles a year to 32,000 after the change. In April 2008 the villagers resolved to fight against the restriction following a Swiss open-air vote.