About Champagne

Champagne is a sparkling wine produced by inducing the in-bottle secondary fermentation of wine to effect carbonation. It is named after the Champagne region of France. While the term "champagne" has often been used by makers of sparkling wine in other parts of the world, many claim it should properly be used to refer only to the wines made in the Champagne region. This principle is enshrined in the European Union by Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status.

In Russia, Belarus and much of the former Soviet Union, the name Sovetskoye Shampanskoye continues to be used, with the governments of those countries claiming that the rights to the use of the word "Champagne" were granted in perpetuity to the Russion Imperial Government by the French and that this cannot be rescinded.