Genuine Champagne Comes Only From France

Press, Volume C, Issue 29402, 3 January 1961, Page 10

Genuine Champagne Comes Only From France

News that a British High Court judge has ordered a Spanish company to relabel bottles of wine that it had been calling champagne is not likely to upset Ch.istchurch drinkers, because on the few occasions when they drink champagne they are not worried where it comes from. Champagne—the finest sparkling wine in the world—comes only from a strictly limited area in France that was the old province of Champagne, but is now called the Department of Marne. Wine merchants in Christchurch said when people ordered champagne they usually chose the less expensive sparkling white wines. Few asked for the very best champagne. However, one merchant said: “We seldom get any call for champagne. When anyone does ask for it they seldom ask for a particular brand and usually ask us to suggest what they should take.” Wine merchants in New Zealand cculd offer champagne from all the well-known “houses” in Reims and Epernay—the towns in the heart of the Champagne district about 90 miles east of Paris, he said.

“In the main, champagne is too dry for the average New Zealand palate. New Zealanders are not really wine-minded.” Sparkling wines were produced by several countries, among them Germany, Spain, Australia and South Africa, but “you can’t call them champagne,” he said. Australia and Spain bottled wines labelled champagne, but South Africa and Germany

simply called their sparkling wines by brand names. Most expensive champagne on his shelves was a Louis Roederer Crystal Brut for 42s 6d a bottle; least expensive was a South African champagne-style wine for 14s 6d a bottle.

Another merchant pointed out that most people bought champagne only for very special celebrations and price was very important in helping them to decide what they wanted. Most New Zealanders did not drink wine very often and probably would not be able to tell the finest champagne from a sparkling wine.

Because of this there was a considerable saving in serving sparkling wine instead of real champagne when up to 20 cases could be needed for a wedding, dinner or dance, he said. Another merchant said: “Very few people know much about champagne or vintages when they come in to buy, but some know whether they want medium or dry. “Most of our sales of champagne are by the case for weddings and so on. People who want a single bottle usually get it from a hotel.”

Among the wine merchants it was generally agreed that for the ordinary drinker if the wine was white and bubbly it was champagne.

In the British High Court action, French champagne producers were granted an injunction against the Spanish company restraining it from passing its wine off as champagne.