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The umbrella organisation Comité Champagne has described the new Russian sparkling wine law as "scandalous" and called on producers to stop their deliveries to Russia until further notice. The law, passed last week, forces French producers to write "sparkling wine" instead of "champagne" on the bottle label. The translation "shampanskoye" on the back of the bottles is forbidden for them from now on according to the new law and is now reserved for Russian sparkling wines. "Taking away the right of Champagne producers to use the name Champagne in Cyrillic letters is a scandal," said Maxime Toubart and Jean-Marie Barillère, co-presidents of the Comité Champagne.
The association called on politicians to work for a solution, saying the labelling law "calls into question 20 years of bilateral talks between France and Russia on the protection of geographical indications". French Foreign Trade Minister Franck Riester wrote on Twitter that he would keep an eye on the new Russian law and its potential impact: "Let there be no doubt: We will fully support our producers and French excellence," he added.
(ru / Source: Decanter; Photo: wikipedia)