On Jan 12, 4:22 am, Emery Davis > wrote:
> Thought some might be amused by this story, which I witnessed with
> much fanfare on the French news yesterday.
>
> Belgian customs authorities destroyed over 3000 bottles of "counterfeit champagne"
> from CA, labeled "California Champagne." "Of course there is no such thing,"
> explained the customs official I saw interviewed.
>
> The wine from Gallo brand André was destroyed at the cost and with agreement
> of the (un-named in the reportage) owner.
>
> -E
>
> --
> Emery Davis
> You can reply to
> by removing the well known companies
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Champagne on labels in the US was used much more in the past and
included just about any sparkling wine, even brands in the NE that
used native American grapes. This sort of thing has been done for many
other wines. At one time there was a lot of cheap wine from California
labeled Port, Tokay, Sauterne, Sherry, etc. Other countries also
sometimes used these names not native to their country. Agreements
between countries have put an end to much of this, but not all. If you
go back to the 1880s, there was even much more liberty taken in naming
wines. There was briefly a Yquem from California in the late 1800s,
but that went a bit too far, even for that time, and the name was soon
not allowed. Yquem, if anything, was even more famous in the 1800s
than now. I have not heard of a California Romanee-Conti from that
era, but it would not surprise me if someone found a California label
from the 1800s with that name.