# How strict are the EU's 'protected designation of origin' laws (e.g. Champagne)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 3, 2019, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strict-are-the-eus-protected-designation-of-origin-laws-e-g-champagne/828904 "2019-02-03T20:30:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strict-are-the-eus-protected-designation-of-origin-laws-e-g-champagne/828904/21 "2019-02-05T04:05:41Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > In South Africa it’s Methode Cap Classique (usually abbreviated MCC) This annoys me. I don’t know what MCC means, but I know what champaign style means. Is this purely domestic, or export designation, too? I mean, I get it. If I want authentic tequila, it better be from Jalisco or certain parts of Guanajuato. But if you honestly tell me that bacanora is made the same way as tequila, that’s for me to decide. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strict-are-the-eus-protected-designation-of-origin-laws-e-g-champagne/828904/22 "2019-02-05T04:36:11Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > This annoys me. I don’t know what MCC means, but I know what champaign style means. Is this purely domestic, or export designation, too? Why should it annoy you? You are unlikely to be buying wine in South Africa and, if you were, you would probably become familiar with the customs of the market. If South African sparkling wine is exported to the US (and I’ve no idea whether it is or not) then it will be labelled in accordance with US law and to reflect practice/expectations in the US market. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strict-are-the-eus-protected-designation-of-origin-laws-e-g-champagne/828904/23 "2019-02-05T14:34:58Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Unfortunately, they didn’t have the wisdom to rule the same for “Parmesan” despite the zillion of those on the market. The cheese is protected, you’re just using the wrong name. “Parmesan” is the generic name, “Parmiggiano-Reggiano” is the real deal, from a particular region in Italy and made a particular way. > **[Parmesan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parmigiano-Reggiano)** > > Parmesan (Italian: Parmigiano Reggiano, .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Italian: \[parmiˈdʒaːno redˈdʒaːno\]) is an Italian hard, granular cheese produced from cow's milk and aged at least 12 months or, outside the European Union, a locally produced imitation. > The full, legally protected, name of the Italian cheese is Parmigiano R... ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strict-are-the-eus-protected-designation-of-origin-laws-e-g-champagne/828904/24 "2019-02-05T14:42:11Z")
> [@dstarfire](#): > > I know that in the EU, any wine made outside the Champagne region of France can’t legally be called champagne And while you can buy non-Frenchified champagne in the U.S., producers in France have effectively bulldozed the American news media into always using the capitalized term to signify how wonderful and unique the Gallic product is. The cheap champagne I bought for New Year’s wasn’t all that good, but it gave me the opportunity to refer to “champagne” here without censorship. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strict-are-the-eus-protected-designation-of-origin-laws-e-g-champagne/828904/25 "2019-02-05T14:54:36Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > At one time the EU was considering protecting “Cheddar” as a designation for cheese, but seems to have ruled that it’s too generic. Which is good since there’s a zillion cheddar cheeses out there. Instead they protect “West Country Farmhouse Cheddar”. Were they? Cheddar isn’t even made in Cheddar any more, so not sure how they could possibly do so. Most protections come from some sort of local lobbying, and the Cheddar makers of Cheddar lobbying group consists of approximately 0! ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strict-are-the-eus-protected-designation-of-origin-laws-e-g-champagne/828904/26 "2019-02-05T16:08:01Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > The cheese is protected, you’re just using the wrong name. “Parmesan” is the generic name, “Parmiggiano-Reggiano” is the real deal, from a particular region in Italy and made a particular way. > > [Parmesan - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parmigiano-Reggiano) Yes, but if you read that Wiki page it says > [@](#): > > The name “Parmesan” is often used generically for the same cheese made outside the traditional areas of production in Italy, although this is prohibited in trading in the European Economic Area under European law. > [@SanVito](#): > > Were they? Cheddar isn’t even made in Cheddar any more, so not sure how they could possibly do so. Most protections come from some sort of local lobbying, and the Cheddar makers of Cheddar lobbying group consists of approximately 0! That’s what I read a number of years ago when they first started to protect these names. (Sorry, I don’t remember where.) Perhaps whoever wrote it was mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strict-are-the-eus-protected-designation-of-origin-laws-e-g-champagne/828904/27 "2019-02-05T16:22:47Z")
Here’s an article on U.S. dairy producers fighting the spread of European GI protections – [https://www.bna.com/cheese-makers-fear-n73014476532/](https://www.bna.com/cheese-makers-fear-n73014476532/) ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strict-are-the-eus-protected-designation-of-origin-laws-e-g-champagne/828904/28 "2019-02-05T16:41:33Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Were they? Cheddar isn’t even made in Cheddar any more, so not sure how they could possibly do so. Most protections come from some sort of local lobbying, and the Cheddar makers of Cheddar lobbying group consists of approximately 0! [It is](http://https://www.cheddaronline.co.uk/), but not as widely as you might expect. Cheddar itself is a tiny village, but there’s a few cheese producers nearby that produce Cheddar Cheese, as well as the linked company who produce it in Cheddar Gorge, although they started their company in 2003, so it’s not historical. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strict-are-the-eus-protected-designation-of-origin-laws-e-g-champagne/828904/29 "2019-02-05T17:28:59Z")
There are hundreds of different named cheeses made in the UK; over 700 according to The British Cheese Board. (No that’s not what they serve in ye olde English Inne, it’s a real agency.) Like Cheddar, Wensleydale cheese is made in many places, but Yorkshire Wensleydale cheese has to come from Yorkshire. Stilton never was made in Stilton but was sold there to travellers whose coaches stopped at an inn on the Great North Road. Most of the names just refer to a style of cheese. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strict-are-the-eus-protected-designation-of-origin-laws-e-g-champagne/828904/30 "2019-02-07T06:31:32Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > There are hundreds of different named cheeses made in the UK; over 700 according to The British Cheese Board. But how many of those 700 can be bought in Ye National Cheese Emporium? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strict-are-the-eus-protected-designation-of-origin-laws-e-g-champagne/828904/31 "2019-02-07T14:24:02Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > [It is](http://https://www.cheddaronline.co.uk/), but not as widely as you might expect. Cheddar itself is a tiny village, but there’s a few cheese producers nearby that produce Cheddar Cheese, as well as the linked company who produce it in Cheddar Gorge, although they started their company in 2003, so it’s not historical. Isn’t Cheddar these days as much of a production process as it is a specific product tied to a specific place? That’s where I get conflicted about this stuff; to some extent, it seems like the Europeans are wanting to keep as much control over the products of the process as by the products of the locality. I agree with the specific locality products that actually express the terroir, etc… but I disagree with trying to lock down the marketing of the production process. It’s about as dumb as the City of Boston suing people over commercially making “Boston Baked Beans” somewhere outside the city limits. Which is absurd, there’s nothing special about Boston that adds anything to the beans; it’s just where the recipe originated. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strict-are-the-eus-protected-designation-of-origin-laws-e-g-champagne/828904.md?page=1)