Thirst for Champagne Grows

PARIS, March 14, 2008 — -- The popping of corks resonates today in several parts of France's Champagne region.

Faced with surging demand in bubbles, France has allowed 40 rural villages to join the highly coveted list of areas where the different types of grapes used to make world famous champagne are allowed to be produced.

Until today, just 319 villages spread across 83,000 acres in northeast France composed this growing area that was restricted by a law dating to 1927.

Sparkling wines are made in many parts of the world, but only producers in this designated region of France have the right to call their product champagne, under laws that establish it as a "controlled term of origin," known in France as Appelation d'Origine Controllée or AOC label.

The addition of 40 villages will allow for expanded production at a time when champagne is flowing worldwide at historic levels.

"At stake, there is the economical aspect of the extension because champagne is reaching the end of its production potential, which is fixed at 400 million bottles" said Catherine Chamourin, from the Winegrower Union of Champagne.

For the towns, the designation is an issue of local pride and economic possibility.

"This extension is important for the history and for the image of the village," Gerard Poix, mayor of Champfleury, one of the villages selected to be part of the extension, told ABC News. "Up until today, we were surrounded by champagne-growing villages, without being one of them. Things are going to change now. It will also be important financially to landowners who will be allowed to plant vines. … This is something we've been asking for for the past 35 years."

The total sale of champagne hit an all-time record last year with 338.7 million bottles sold, a 5.3 percent jump from 2006. Exports reached 150.9 million bottles sold in 190 countries, confirming the emergence of flourishing new markets such as Asia and Russia where the bubbly drink is very popular among the nouveau riche.

The only champagne market to fall back was the United States, where exports slumped 6.2 percent to 21.7 million bottles, hit by the unfavorable exchange rate between the euro and the U.S. dollar.

The extension of the growing area has been in the works since 2003, partly to address the growing demand but also to end the archaic development of the growing area.

"The economical aspect of the extension is not the only reason why it had to be done. We knew that the extension of the area was necessary, but the most important [concern] was that it had to be done properly in order for things not to get out of control, like we've seen in the past," Chamourin told ABC News.