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‘Champagne tablets’ prove too good to be true

A marketing agency published adverts this week showing how the famous French Champagne brand Veuve Clicquot had managed to produce the luxury tipple in the form of tablets that dissolve in water. Alas it proved too good (or too bad) to be true.

Published: 5 August 2014 16:31 CEST

'Champagne tablets' prove too good to be true

Champagne in tablet form:? Before you shout "sacrilege" it's not actually true. Photo: Firma

It could have spelled the end of the popping champagne corks and saved a lot of money on recycling bottles.

That’s if it had been real.

Social networks went wild in France on Tuesday morning when news spread that the champagne label Veuve Clicquot had created champagne in the form of a dissolvable tablet like the well-known hangover cure Alka-Seltzer. Several brand websites also eagerly published the news.

“In 2014, after the invention of alcohol powder, Veuve Clicquot is trying it on – A soluble champagne tablets made of alcohol powder will turn water into magnificent champagne,” wrote one website with images of the product.

As you could imagine in a nation that is home to the famous sparkling wine, there were soon calls of “sacrilege”

Non? UN SACRILÈGE! http://t.co/HpveQOHHkm #veuvecliquot #comme1doliprane

— Laurent DUBOIS (@LaurentDUBOIS) August 4, 2014

The new tablets, which could simply be added to a glass of water to create Champagne, was to be called “Shh…ampagne” because of the noise it makes when dissolving in water.

Even if the idea seemed far-fetched the pictures below were passed around on the internet by people eager to try it out.

But unfortunately it turns out the new creation was not the work of Veuve-Clicquot, which is owned by luxury group LVMH, but a simple hoax by Russian ad agency called Firma.

The marketing agency had not been given permission by Veuve Clicquot to use its name and was quickly taken to task by authorities and the French firm was forced to issue a denial.

The French organisation CIVB (Interprofessional Committee for Wine and Champange) has demanded the Russian ad agency remove the images and has launched an investigation to find out the origins of the pictures.

Would you drink Champagne if it was ever in the form of a dissolvable tablet?

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French Champagne makers threaten boycott of Russia over 'sparkling wine' label

Russian lawmakers adopted legislation saying the word "champagne" can only be applied to wine produced in Russia. Photo: Alexander NEMENOV / AFP.

Moet Hennessy’s Russia office warned local partners it was suspending supplies after Russian lawmakers adopted legislation stipulating that the word “champagne” can only be applied to wine produced in Russia, while the world-famous tipple from France’s Champagne region should be called “sparkling wine”.

Leonid Rafailov, general director of AST, a top liquor distributor which works with a number of brands including Moet Hennessy, said on Saturday his firm had received a letter from the French company notifying it of the suspension.

“I confirm that such a letter exists, and it is justified,” Rafailov told AFP.

He said that in accordance with the legislation – signed off on by Putin on Friday – the company would have to undergo new registration procedures, among other requirements.

Sebastien Vilmot, Moet Hennessy managing director in Russia, declined to speak to AFP.

But in a statement released through Rafailov, Vilmot called the suspension a “temporary” measure before a solution could be found.

Moet Hennessy is part of French luxury goods group LVMH and known for such brands as Moet & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot and Dom Perignon.

The French are fiercely protective of the term “champagne”, and it can only be made in the French region of the same name.

A copy of Moet Hennessy’s letter was first published on social media on Friday by a representative of a Moscow-based liquor importer and distributor.

Drinks market expert Vadim Drobiz suggested the legislation was open to interpretation but added that Moet Hennessy’s share of the Russian market was relatively small and well-heeled clients could find a replacement.

“If there is no Moet, there won’t be a state coup and Russian elites will not commit suicide,” Drobiz quipped.

But wine consultant Anna Chernyshova questioned the purpose of the amendments. “My phone has been ringing off the hook,” she said. “Me and my clients are thinking what to do next.”

Chernyshova, who helps people build wine collections, said she was not sure why the Russian parliament had passed such a law. “How will they walk back on it?” she told AFP. “So many officials love this champagne.”

Social media was abuzz with jokes, with wits making fun of the latest piece of Russian legislation. “Now it’s necessary to ban Scots and Americans from using the word “whisky”, joked restaurateur Sergei Mironov.

Popular singer Vasya Oblomov said Russian lawmakers could now adopt similar legislation regulating the use of the name “Mercedes” and even place names.

“I thought it was a joke,” wrote Putin’s self-exiled critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. “I was wrong.”

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