I just got an URGENT e-mail from the Office of Champagne U.S.A. informing me that
Belgian Customs authorities seized and destroyed a shipment of over 3,200 bottles of André sparkling wine. The shipment was seized at the port of Anvers, Belgium, on Tuesday. It is the latest in a series of seizures in the last four years, representing important quantities of bottles.
The bottles of Gallo’s André sparkling wine with references to “California Champagne” and “André Champagne Cellars” are in direct violation of export laws in numerous countries that protect the place names of wine regions.
But that’s not the interesting part. The interesting part is that it’s all on video.