The European Court of Justice ruled that if a sorbet tastes enough like champagne, it gets to be called that.
If you know anything about Champagne, France and how seriously they take their precious bubbly alcohol, you’d know this is a big deal. Champagne actually has its own committee for the wine, a trade association that promotes champagne across the world and represents the interests of independent wine producers. And champagne can only be produced in that region of France.
In case you forgot, this is written at the top of the committee’s home page:
Okay, yes, we get it!
When the committee got wind that the German chain Aldi was selling a “Champagne Sorbet” in their supermarkets that only really contained 12% champagne, they flipped, naturally. They argued that this lowly sorbet was riding on the “prestige” of the Champagne place of origin. Oh mon dieu!
The AP reports that the EU court, though they left the ultimate decision to a German court, says that the name champagne in this case if the sorbet “has, as one of its essential characteristics, a taste attributable primarily to Champagne.”
Maybe this decision will open the floodgates for European champagne items? Personally I want champagne Dum Dums.