Champagne makers often have the prestigious name usurped by rival producers, but Vladimir Putin has upped the ante by signing a law reserving the appellation for Russian sparkling wine that has prompted a call for a bubbly blockade
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French champagne producers are fiercely jealous of the AOC—or Appellation of Controlled Origin—that is supposed to give them exclusive use of the word in countries that adhere to the Lisbon Agreement on distinctive geographical indications.
But Russia is not a signatory, and President Vladimir Putin signed a law last week that will forbid the use of the Russian translation of champagne—"Shampanskoye"—on imported bottles.