THE CHAMPAGNE OF SORBETS

THE AOC CHAMPAGNE takes its name seriously.  Very seriously.  The famed region is notorious for taking quick legal action against companies that misuse the word.  So it comes as a surprise that after a 5-year legal battle, the European Union’s top court recently ruled in favor of a product called “Champagne Sorbet” saying that if it really tastes like Champagne, it can be called that.  France’s highly protective CIPV committee of Champagne producers had sought a ban on the German Aldi chain selling “Champagne Sorbet” in its supermarkets but the European Court of Justice ruled against them.  Even though the court left the ultimate decision to a German court, it did say that the name could be used if the sorbet “has, as one of its essential characteristics, a taste attributable primarily to Champagne.” Aldi’s Champagne Sorbet contains 12 percent Champagne.  The court said that the quantity of the bubbly itself “is a significant but not, in itself, sufficient factor”.  Ironically, Aldi stopped selling the sorbet sometime during the last five years but the case continued.  Perhaps a re-launch is in the near future.