It’s been a long journey for India and champagne, going back over three centuries. In 2017, over 400,000 bottles of the bubbly were shipped to India in spite of the high taxes, says the head of a key French organisation that ensures that only the original product is served around the world

“Champagne and India have a long story that dates back to the first shipments in the 18th century. Maharajas were the most important consumers of this new wine at that time. Since then, shipments have continued and Champagne enjoys a great recognition, which was confirmed with the registration of the Champagne appellation by India in 2008,” Vincent Perrin, Director General of The Comite Champagne, told IANS in an email interview

How would he describe the journey over the past decade and how have the two sides benefited?

Noting that one of the The Comite Champagne’s key missions is to ensure that the name Champagne is reserved only for sparkling wines produced in the Champagne region of France to give “to our winegrowers and houses the best environment to sell their wines”, Perrin added: “To achieve this objective, education programmes and protection of the Champagne name are two levers that we continuously use.”