Crémant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Crémant is the French name for sparkling wine made in that country outside the region of Champagne. Crémant du Jura, crémant d’Alsace and crémant de Bordeaux is each an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée for its respective region. Some crémant producers label their product in a manner apparently designed to mislead consumers into believing that they are purchasing expensive Champagne at a lower price.
Sparkling wines made all over the world, and many use special terms to define their sparkling wines: Spanish sparkling wine is called Cava, Italian is Spumante (if made from Muscat grapes it is called Asti), South African is Cap Classique, German is Sekt, and that of the United States and Canada is called either Sparkling Wine or the semi-generic Champagne.
Current U.S regulations require that what is defined as a semi-generic name (such as Champagne) shall be used on a wine label only if there appears next to that name the appellation of "the actual place of origin" in order to prevent any possible consumer confusion.
Many US producers of quality sparkling wine no longer find the term "Champagne" useful in marketing and prefer to call their products Sparkling Wine.
[edit] Sources
- Guy, Lolleen. When Champagne became French: Wine and the Making of a National Identity. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003.
- Robinson, Jancis (Ed.) The Oxford Companion to Wine. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, second edition, 1999.
