Albert Banderet, the former mayor of the municipality of Champagne and later president of the Committee for the Protection of the Name and Interests of the Municipality of Champagne, effectively the Swiss Asterix and leader of the resistance against a powerful brand, also sought protection at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. Banderet’s successor, Mayor Marc-André Cornu, later announced that their village had lost that case as well. The Swiss are required to label their sparkling wines according to grape varieties.
Even Pinot Noir Didn't Help Them
In the Canton of Vaud, home to the village of Champagn, Chasselas dominates among white varieties. It is the oldest known grape variety in the world, cultivated by the Egyptians as early as 5,000 years ago. The most widely planted red variety is Pinot Noir. This represents yet another link to the French region of Champagne: genuine Champagne can be made not only from Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier but also from this demanding yet highly prized variety, which yields the world's finest wines in Burgundy.
A 1,221-Year-Old Tradition
The residents of the Swiss village of Champagne possess a document from 885 AD that mentions local wine and vineyards, predating the start of sparkling wine production in the French region of Champagne by several centuries. Given that the village’s annual wine production is less than 300,000 liters, the insistence by the major Champagne region on banning the name is surprising: the French produce over 300 million bottles of Champagne annually, and it is unclear what they fear.
The French Imposed Bans on French
The French, for their part, were surprised by the Swiss's fierce battle to protect the name, given that there are about a dozen villages in France, outside the Champagne region, that bear that name, yet none of them are permitted to use it on their wine labels. After all, back in 1994, they even secured protection for the name of the Champagne method used to produce sparkling wines. Sparkling wine producers worldwide who use the secondary bottle-fermentation process are required to call it the classic method.
The Hungarians Ban Tokay
French sparkling wines produced in other regions are also called vin mousseux or crémant. This applies even to the beautiful, medieval fortified city of Carcassonne, where sparkling wines were made even before they were in Champagne. There, the sparkling wines are known as Blanquette or Crémant de Limoux. The French are not the only ones who protect their wine brands so rigorously. The Hungarians, too, have protected their Tokay.
Many nations are suffering
The Hungarians have forbidden the French from calling Pinot Gris Tokay d’Alsace, while Italians and Slovenians must now label Tocai Friuliano as Sauvignonese. Australians were forced to rename their Tokay liqueur after the Muscadelle grape variety, and Americans will also have to change the name of their Tokay variety. The name Tokay is now reserved exclusively for sweet Hungarian wines made from several grape varieties grown in the region of the same name.
Low production, high consumption
Switzerland is not an insignificant country in the world of wine. It has around 14,200 hectares of vineyards, and produces over 100 million liters of wine annually. Production volumes per winery are small, and their wines are not widely known because exports are limited. In 2024, the country imported 161.33 million liters of wine valued at over one billion euros. This represented a 7.1 percent decrease compared to 2023.