Bubbly Branding: Champagne Gets Legal Protection in China

Corks popped across China this week when local copyright officials gave official recognition to the French region and its bubbly product. Now, just as in other parts of the world, only sparkling wine produced in that area of France can legally be called champagne, or "xiang bing jiu" in Mandarin Chinese, or labelled as such. Everything is well, just sparkling wine.

The legal protection now offered in China is technically better than that in the U.S., where as much as 50 percent of what's sold there doesn't come from the French region, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Guarding the name isn't the drink's biggest problem in China. Although perhaps the celebratory drink of choice in the West, champagne lags cognac and local baijiu for festive occasions here. China consumed two million bottles of the stuff in 2012, but still only accounts for less than one percent of the global champagne market, the Journal reported.

"It matters because the government has taken a public position on Champagne's status," said Grape Wall of China's Jim Boyce. He added, "I doubt Chinese consumers have been holding off on massive Champagne purchases until the government took this measure. Thus I don't think it will ahve any notable impact of Champagne sales in Beijing. Protection or no protection, the high price of Champagne, in a market where spending big is usually reserved for still red wine, is a much bigger issue."

Still, Beijing has no shortage of places to enjoy champagne. Duck de Chine features a Bollinger champagne bar; Bubbalicious at Seasonal Tastes at the Westin Chaoyang was voted by our readers as Best Hotel Brunch, in part because of its free-flow champagne; and TRB Temple Restaurant and Maison Boulud, which were our readers' favorite and outstanding wine list winners, respectively (along with Enoterra), have excellent selections.

Where's your favorite place to sip champagne? Leave a comment below or tell us in our forum.

Photo: red-luxury.com