Champagne trade body destroys fizzy drink and beer

Champagne is on the rampage destroying soda and beer as it aims to protect its name. This week France’s Comité Champagne wine body said it has organised the destruction of 34,968 bottles sparkling soda with the label ‘Couronne Fruit Champagne’ The bottles were imported by Brasserie de la Couronne, the licensed bottler for the Coca-Cola Co. in Haiti and seized by French customs back in 2021 for infringing naming rules for Champagne, a protected designation of origin in the EU.

In April, 2,352 cans of Miller High Life beer were also treated as counterfeit Champagne and destroyed after being discovered in Belgium. Miller’s century-old motto “The Champagne of Beer” on the can was enough for the Comité to decide the beer was passing itself off as champagne.