On September 1 Australia joins the global movement to support robust truth-in-labelling laws that protect consumers by requiring that wine growing place names are reserved exclusively for the regions where the wines come from.
Any bubbly produced in Australia after September 1 can no longer be labeled as “Champagne”, and will have to be called ‘sparkling wine’ or other term.
There has been a trade agreement signed between Australia and European Union which is meant to protect winegrowers around the world, and to enforce labelling laws, an initiative of the Comité Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne, or CIVC in France.
Russia and Vietnam continue to mislabel their bottles, says a CIVC spokeperson, and more than 50 percent of sparkling wine in the US is mislabeled as champagne.
Canada has robust labeling laws and consumers have been educated and are aware they are purchasing a bottle from the Champagne region of France.
To mark this industry milestone, CIVC has created this website to count down the days and minutes until the new Australian law comes into force http://countdown.champagne.us/
