Originally Posted by
DJGMaster1
That's simply not true. The grapes that go into real French Champagne, come from Champagne. That is most definitely the law, in France. I'm sure some houses may violate the law, but if they do, it's at the margins to make up for poor harvests, not a general practice.
I haven't read the actual AOC text, but I was told that in 1984 it expanded the areas where grapes used in Champagne were grown. Perhaps in some years they can't grow enough Pinot Noir in Champagne so they look to Burgundy. There are some Grand Cru areas of Burgundy who sell their grapes to other regions.
At least 99.9 % of the wine in the world sold under the name "Burgundy" is not even from France. Ever hear of Gallo Hearty Burgundy?
I thought Gallo legally had to import their grapes from Burgundy, no? Wasn't there a big court case a couple years ago where some French exporters went to prison for selling non Burgundy grapes to Gallo and calling it Burgundy? And Gallo had to dump millions of gallons of wine. I know that in the past much of the worlds Burgundy didn't come from Burgundy, but with new WTO rules I don't think that is the case anymore.