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Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law saying only Russian winegrowers could sell wine labelled 鈥淐hampagne鈥� in Russia, and French champagne will be classified as 鈥渟parkling wine.鈥�

The direct challenge to the French champagne industry comes as a deadline approaches following a legal battle in 2010. It was ruled then that Russian cr茅mants (sparking wines made using champagne methods) which had used the word 鈥楥hampagne鈥� on their labels since Soviet times, must stop doing so by 2022.

Trade body the Comit茅 Champagne said: 鈥淲e are working very hard to come up with a response to the Russian situation and will issue a statement soon.鈥�

French luxury goods group LVMH, which sells Dom P茅rignon, Ruinart, Mo毛t & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Krug and Mercier champagnes, reportedly sent a letter to its Russian distributors saying it will no longer sell champagne in Russia as a result.

Sud Ouest newspaper reported it received a confirmation of a letter suspending LVMH champagne sales in Russia from AST, one of the main wholesalers of wines and spirits in Russia.

It was followed by a communiqu茅 in which AST said the measure was 鈥渢emporary鈥� until an appropriate solution could be found.

Last year, 245 million bottles of champagne were exported globally, a fall of 16% compared to 2019, with the fall being attributed to the Covid crisis.

Overall sales, including in France, last year were around 鈧�4billion, down from 鈧�5billion in 2019.

Russia is the 15th largest export market for champagne and in 2020, 1.8million bottles, worth an estimated 鈧�35million were exported to the country.

The Comit茅 Champagne is pro-active in the courts to stop anyone using the word champagne to sell sparking wine, if the wine is not from grapes grown in the AOC Champagne designated region.

One of its latest victories came last month, after a 20-year court bottle, prevented winegrowers from the Swiss village of Champagne selling their still wine labelled vin du commune de Champagne.

Charles Goemaere, the managing director of the Comit茅 de Champagne, told Connexion legal action was necessary to protect the livelihoods of the 20,000 growers and other workers who made the famous French sparkling wine.

鈥淲e are very proud of our wine and know it is important for people all over the world to know that if they buy a bottle of champagne, they know they are buying a high quality product made following strict rules and procedures.

鈥淚f we let anyone just use the name Champagne there is a risk that buyers will be disappointed by poor quality products.鈥�