A law has been approved in Russia by President Putin, which decrees that only sparkling wine produced in Russia can be called ‘champagne.’ Any wine imports from France would have to be labelled ‘sparkling wine.’ Russia imports about 50 million litres of sparkling wine each year, of which 13 per cent is French champagne.
Wine industry experts in Russia believe that French producers may refuse to re-name their wine, thus putting a stop to all Champagne imports into Russia.