In ten years’ time, Russia will stop producing champagne, instead switching to “sparkling wine.”
The move is part of an agreement between Russian producers and French ones from the Champagne region, Interfax reports citing sources in Abrau-Dyurso winery.
The deadline is currently scheduled for 2022, but it may be extended if re-branding Russian bubbly proves more difficult than first thought.
The fight over the Champagne appellation started in 2009.
The French insist that “Champagne” is a geographic location and can only be used in the name of wines produced in the region.
Russia is not the first country forced into renaming its local type of sparkling wine. Following a heated dispute with the French, the US also forbade its producers to use the term “champagne” to describe wines of the sort that appeared after 2006.