India's First Wine, Food and Hospitality Website, INDIAN WINE ACADEMY, Specialists in Food & Wine Programmes. Food Importers in Ten Cities Across India. Publishers of delWine, India’s First Wine.
 
 
Skip Navigation Links
Home
About Us
Indian Market
Wine & Health
Wine Events
Hotels
Retail News
Blog
Contact Us
Skip Navigation Links
Wine Tourism
Book Review
Launch
Winery
TechTalk
Photo Gallery
Readers' Comments
Editorial
Media
Video Wall
Media Partners
Ask Wineguyindia
Wine & Food
Wine Guru
Perspectives
Gerry Dawes
Harvest Reports
Mumbai Reports
Advertise With Us
Classifieds
US Report on Indian Market Released
Top Ten Importers List 2015-16
On Facebook
 
On Twitter
Delhi Wine Club
 
British ‘Champagne’ may be named as ‘Britagne’

Posted: Tuesday, 05 July 2011 10:27

British ‘Champagne’ may be named as ‘Britagne’

The recent release of a sparkling wine from the British producer Coates and Seely as ‘Britagne’ with a hope to give this as a generic name for the British bubblies in future, has already started a debate at home in England but it would be curious to see if champagne producers register a strong protest through the European Union, else how they might object to Zampa in India naming their bubbly as Zampagne, wonders Subhash Arora

When Nashik based Zampa introduced the bubbly 2-3 years ago in India, it announced that it would be labeled as Zampagne- a name similar to Champagne. But by the time the product was released, it was Zampa brut. Rumour had it that the company had been obliged to re-consider its decision and it chose the mundane label Zampa Brut instead despite the ready labels with the earlier name selected- just like others including Sula and Vinsura.

Christian Seely, MD of the wine division of AXA Millésimes which includes the Second Growth Chateaux Pichon-Longueville in Bordeaux and the premier Port house Quinta do Noval in Porto is also the co-founder of Coates and Seely which brought out the ‘Britagne’ from C &S. He believes that the English sparkling wine should have its own generic name to earn it more prestige because of its ever improving quality (and eventually higher premium).

Launching their first wine a few days ago- the sparkling rosé made from the champagne grapes -65% Pinot Noir and 35% Pinot Meunier, Seely and co-founder Nicholas Coates admitted, according to Decanter that it was their dream to see people walking into a bar and asking for a glass of Britagne in the future, howsoever distant.

English sparklers have won accolades and a clutch of international awards and the admiration of a growing army of drinkers, but the wine makers still feel the drink lacks some fizz- a catchy name, according to Telegraph.

Although,  it seems unlikely that there would be an agreement on this generic name in the  next few years within the UK producers, their French neighbours in Champagne might not take kindly to the use of a name  sounding similar even though “Britagne” is proposed to be pronounced as “brit-an-yuh” , similar to Britannia, rather than Champagne in the UK. Ironically, in French champagne is pronounced as ‘brit-an-yuh’. To put salt on the wound, the Brits hope to call the process of second fermentation in the bottle as ‘Méthode Britannique’. Only Champagne is authorized to use Méthode Champenoise while others are obliged to choose other terms like Methode Traditionelle or Cape Classique in South Africa.

Reactions from the established English sparkling wine producers have been diverse. Although leading UK sparkling wine producers Nyetimber and Ridgeview reportedly agree that there should be a category name, they do not appear comfortable with ‘Britagne’. They also feel that the English sparkling wine industry is still in its infancy and it’s too early for a category or selecting a name.

Ridgeview stamps its brand on the golden capsule like most Champagnes. It is unlikely to replace it with any other generic name and miss out on the brand statement value on the capsule. It is also doubtful that other producers would like C&S to grab the advantage of initial usage of Britagne after it is perceived as a competitor’s existing brand.

Ridgeview would like to see ‘Merret’ used as the generic term, named after the English physician and scientist who was the first to document the addition of sugar for the production of sparkling wine.  It already owns the copyright for the term and uses it for its own products, but envisages it being a publicly owned trademark used by accredited producers meeting strict production criteria. 

It would be interesting to see how far Britagne goes in terms of being adopted as a generic name or if Zampagne would come back into the market if Champagne does not take any action against the Britagne label.  But most wine drinkers in India would call a Britagne or Zampagne also Champagne despite all the efforts of champagne producers.  They would also call a Spanish Cava, Italian Prosecco, German Sekt or a South African Cap Classique - Champagne.

Interestingly, the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla (previously Parker Bowles) , wife of Prince Charles had suggested a few weeks ago that the British sparkling wine was so good that it should be called Champagne, according to Telegraph.

The Indian wine lovers of bubblies won’t mind calling the English sparkling wine as Champagne too.

       

Want to Comment ?
Name    
Email       
Please enter your comments in the space provided below. If there is a problem, please write directly to arora@delwine.com. Thank you.
 

Captcha
Generate a new image

Type letters from the image:


Please note that it may take some time to get your comment published...Editor

Wine In India, Indian Wine, International Wine, Asian Wine Academy, Beer, Champagne, World Wine Academy, World Wine, World Wines, Retail, Hotel

     
 

 
 
Copyright©indianwineacademy, 2003-2020 |All Rights Reserved
Developed & Designed by Sadilak SoftNet