A designation for the production of Champagne using the traditional bottle fermentation method that has been protected by EU wine law since 1994. Only a sparkling wine produced according to this method and exclusively from the Champagne region of protected origin may be labelled as such. The name 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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