What the national appellations institute of France is about to do with the boundaries of Champagne, to appease Champagne wineries that want to expand production, may well come back to haunt those wineries.

Isn’t this the one wine region in the world that has fought hardest to preserve its regional brand? Isn’t it the one that has fought for decades if not centuries to stop wineries outside the Champagne region from calling their wines Champagne?

The public that consumes the sometimes exquisite bubbly from the cellars of Reims, Epernay and Ay might not understand why the French authorities are allowing Champagne to annex areas outside its borders, so that more grapes can be grown and more bottles be sold.

It will sound to some as if the producers of Champagne are being disingenuous, if not hypocritical. Makers of bubbly in other areas of France are not permitted to call their sparkling wines Champagne. Nor are bubbly makers in most of the world.

But now the Champenois are declaring that some other areas of France, specifically those near Champagne but officially outside the appellation for at least 80 years will now be classified as within the champagne zone. They shouldn’t be surprised if the international wine trade and collectors of rare Champagne find this move mercenary.

The Institut National des Appellations d’Origine (INAO) is expected to announce in a few days that as many as 40 villages and their surrounding farmland on the perimeters of the region will be eligible for consideration as part of the new expanded Champagne.

Land-owners are excited because the value of the crops they can grow will skyrocket. Champagne grapes are some of the highest priced in the world. And because this in turn will send property values soaring.

At least portions of the proposed annexation did have vineyards before World War I, but they weren’t producing in 1927 when the current Champagne appellation lines were drawn.

As somebody who loves Champagne as a connoisseur’s wine, who has visited the region numerous times and who covered Champagne as his beat for five years, I don’t think it’s a smart move in the long run. I only know what I’ve read online regarding the annexations, so I may be missing some of the points in favor.

What I understand is that the demand for Champagne worldwide will soon outstrip supply, so the producers want to find more supply. But I thought that traditional wine estates loved that rarity idea. They still make the same amount of wine, but get to raise their prices and make more money with basically the same costs.

It sounds like the Champenois who have pushed for the annexation don’t plan that kind of growth. They want to sell more bottles and have people believe that it’s the same authentic Champagne they’ve been selling since 1927. Champagne has made its reputation a golden one by protecting its name and its territory, yet now it seems to me that the region is about to risk its most valuable assets to move more bottles.

A better solution would be for the Champagne producers to do in these surrounding areas what they have demanded the rest of the world outside Champagne do: make bubbly, call it something else and let the public decide if it’s good enough to deserve Champagne prices and prestige.

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