Korbel fought the law - and sort of, technically, didn't lose.

Champagne is also from California, apparently.

Let’s get this straight: Champagne isn’t just a drink, it’s an international identity crisis waiting to happen. For a sparkling wine to legally wear the name Champagne, it has to come from the Champagne region of France and be made using the méthode champenoise—aka the “real” way. Anywhere else in the world? You can use the same grapes, the same technique, even hire a guy named Pierre to stomp the grapes in tiny monk robes—but if you call it Champagne, expect lawsuits. Swift ones. The kind where France shows up in a three-piece suit and slaps you with a treaty.

Unless, apparently, you’re California.

You’ve probably seen the labels: Korbel. Cook’s. André. All proudly calling themselves California Champagne. And here’s the kicker—it’s totally legal. How?

Let’s rewind to the 1860s, when California winemakers were already using the word Champagne like it was generic Kleenex. The industry was booming. San Francisco newspapers casually ran ads side-by-side for “Imported Champagne” and “Domestic Champagne.” By the late 1800s, Americans were sipping bubbly from Keuka Lake, New York—yes, New York—and calling it Champagne, too.

Then came the Madrid Agreement in 1891, where France begged the rest of the world to protect regional wine names. The U.S. was like “hard pass” and didn’t sign on until 2003.

In between? World War I. And this is where it gets wild. The Champagne region—Reims, Épernay, all of it—was practically obliterated in trench warfare. By 1917, almost every facility was destroyed. Champagne winemakers were trying to survive in literal ruins. France scrambled to protect its booze in the Treaty of Versailles, including Article 275, which said only sparkling wine from Champagne could be called that. But the U.S., laser-focused on Prohibition at the time, never ratified the treaty.

Translation? The loophole was born.

Fast forward to the 1970s: California’s wine industry is suddenly hot again, churning out jug wines and cheap bubbly. Labels like Carlo Rossi’s “Hearty Burgundy” (which is actually a Zinfandel blend, lol) flood the shelves. French winemakers? Losing their damn minds.

By the early 2000s, the EU and U.S. finally cut a deal: no new American wines could use “Champagne,” “Chablis,” or other protected names after 2006. But if you were already doing it? You could keep going. Forever.

To this day, California producers like Korbel are grandfathered in under this glorious, accidental legal glitch created by a treaty we never ratified. France calls it a “moral absurdity.” America calls it brunch.

And while it’s easy to mock the idea of $6 sparkling wine in plastic corks, most consumers know the difference. When someone grabs a bottle of California Champagne, they’re not confusing it with Dom. They’re making mimosas. Or celebrating divorce. Or just drinking cheap bubbles on a Tuesday. God bless.