The CIVC in Beijing: Protecting the Champagne appellation

By Nicolas Carre,

Whether you call it Champagne or Xiang bing, this French wine is a favorite the world over. But there is a difference between Champagne and sparkling wine, and the wine growers from that region have given Wang Wei the responsibility of protecting their appellation in China. She is head of the locally based Comité interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne (CIVC) and talked about the group’s mission in China.

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What is the mission of the CIVC in China?

The CIVC has two main objectives. The first is to help distributors promote Champagne in China. The second is to explain that the name “Champagne” is protected and should not be used to promote others kinds of sparkling wines. It should only be used to refer to sparkling wines produced specifically in the area of Champagne in France.

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Is the name “Champagne” being misused in China?

Numerous small companies, mainly in Shandong province, the largest wine-producing area in China, have done so. There are cases of “Champagne” being used on the labels of sparkling wines imported from the United States and Russia. Another problem is use of “Champagne” by importers themselves on Chinese labels. Beyond wine, we see the use of “Champagne” to promote other products, such as housing developments.

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Does this misuse of “Champagne” extend to supermarkets?

No. We communicate a lot with supermarkets to avoid this problem, though until last year, we had a case with a small supermarket that serves primarily foreigners in Beijing. It used to sell a sparkling wine from California that mentioned “Champagne region” on the label. It has since stopped selling that product.

A persistent problem is small Chinese supermarkets that promote their sparkling wines by using the term “Champagne” on the shelves. This is usually because they don’t realize that “Champagne” is protected.

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How do you respond in these cases?

The State Administration for Industry and Trade issued a circular on October 26, 1989 that acknowledges the protection in China of the AOC Champagne region. Usually, a simple explanatory letter to a company is enough to close a case, since many people misuse the Champagne label out of ignorance.

For the recalcitrant, we intend to follow up with legal action. We also recently confiscated many bottles of wine from a distributor on the market in Shanghai and also had a recent case where, with help from the Chinese government, we were able to punish someone illegitimately selling wine as “Champagne” in Shanghai.

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Is there a distinction between “Champagne” and “sparkling wine” in Mandarin?

The translation of Champagne in Chinese is xiang bing, while sparkling wine is qi pao jiu. The problem is that qi pao jiu doesn’t sound pleasant to Chinese.

Another problem is that xiang bing is commonly used to refer to any wine with bubbles. This is something we need to change, so you imagine the amount of work I still have to do…

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