Over MLK weekend I took a trip up to Gurneville CA - in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County. After a long and strenuous hike and in desperate need of hydration me and a group of classmates stumbled upon the Korbel Champagne Cellars. Upon seeing the sign for the winery, my first thought was relief that I could soon quench my thirst. However my second thought took me back to our class discussion on authenticity, if I was in California how could it be a Champagne cellar? I was very much under the assumption that Champagne had to come from the region in France. Growing up in Europe where many legal structures reserve the word Champagne exclusively for sparkling wines from the Champagne region, I was shocked to see this being used at such a popular winery in Sonoma.
After some research I found that the United States bans the use from all new U.S.-produced wines. Only those that had approval to use the term on labels before 2006 may continue to use it and only when it is accompanied by the wine's actual origin (e.g., "California"). The majority of US-produced sparkling wines do not use the term Champagne on their labels, and some states, such as Oregon, ban producers in their states from using the term.
I have not yet come to my own conclusion on what I think authenticity means, but what I do know is that I felt strangely uncomfortable when our lovely host at the Korbel Cellars kept referring to the drink as Champagne. So I guess this is a "watch this space" post. Over the coming weeks I hope to look beyond just the rules I can find online, and start to build my own perspective on what authenticity means to me.
However as a grapple with this challenging question of authenticity, on my GSB journey to change lives, organizations and the world, I am reminded of the Willie Gluckstern quote - "In a perfect world, everyone would have a glass of Champagne every evening."
Fascinating- I did not know US maintained exceptions. This made me think of South Africa's approach- they used "Methode Cap Classique" (MCC) to name wines produced in the exact classical style of champagne. I thought South Africa's name choice was inspired- MCC signals that it is not just sparkling wine, and saying it in French was a nice way of thumbing their nose up at the ban.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.glassofbubbly.com/south-africa-methode-cap-classique-sparkling-wines/
Jack - thanks for your post, I also did not know about the pre-2006 exception. As it relates to the treatment of champagne in the US, I've been reading about the 100% tariff on certain French products that was recently proposed by the Trump administration. The administration already created a 25% tariff on non-sparkling European wines in October. It's interesting that French champagne is being specifically targeted; some news sources have cited the move as "retaliation for unilateral taxation of digital services by the EU on U.S. corporations with significant global reach". This, if executed, will likely have a negative effect on choice for American consumers as EU wines become too expensive to import and stock. As you mentioned, a space to watch.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-tax-on-champagne-will-cost-u-s-consumers-11578998773
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/01/13/business/13reuters-usa-trade-france.html