Designation for the production of champagne by bottle fermentation, protected by EU regulation since 1994. Only a sparkling wine produced exclusively in the Champagne region of France using this method may be called Champagne. The Champagne region was protected as an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée in 1936.
The designation authorised by the European Union for bottle-fermented sparkling wine outside Champagne is Méthode classique (alternatively Méthode traditionelle or Méthode traditionelle classique), whereby the national languages are also permitted. The term Crémant was introduced at the end of the 1980s to replace the term Méthode champenoise for sparkling wines outside Champagne.
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Thorsten Rahn
Restaurantleiter, Sommelier, Weindozent und Autor; Dresden