Bubble riot between France and Russia over new champagne law

France and Russia are at odds over a recently passed Russian law. Under that law, only the Russian makers of sparkling wine are allowed to call their product 'shampanskoye', the Russian word for champagne. France does not agree with this, because there it is the rule that only sparkling wine from the Champagne region may bear that name. The French are now even considering taking legal action. France has strict rules around its sparkling wine. The country has been able to impose almost worldwide, with the exception of the United States, that only wine from the Champagne region can actually be called champagne. That is why, for example, the Spanish variant is called cava. But Russia is now changing that. The Russian word 'shampanskoye' is now reserved for local producers. France can still use the word 'champagne' on its bottles, but can no longer translate it into Russian. Moët Hennessy, the most famous French champagne maker, stopped all imports to Russia last weekend and is ...