Walken’s line was at the heart of an international incident on Monday in which Belgian authorities destroyed a shipment of Miller High Life beer at the urging of the Comité Champagne, an organization devoted to protecting its namesake bubbles. Belgian customs in February seized 2,352 cans of the American beer brand — which has long marketed the suds as “the Champagne of Beers” — that were headed from Antwerp to an unnamed buyer in Germany, according to a news release from Comité Champagne.
The cans bearing that slogan were emptied and crushed after the organization complained that they violated the European Union’s “designation of origin” rules governing various agricultural products. For a bottle of sparkling wine to be labeled as champagne, it must be made in Champagne, France and produced using the traditional méthode champenoise.
Charles Goemaere, the Comité Champagne’s managing director, said the destruction of the beer “confirms the importance that the European Union attaches to designations of origin and rewards the determination of the Champagne producers to protect their designation.”
In a statement, Molson Coors noted that it has used the tagline for more than a century. “Of course, we respect local restrictions around the word ‘champagne,’ but we remain proud of Miller High Life, its nickname and its Milwaukee, Wisconsin provenance,” the statement read. ” We invite our friends in Europe to the U.S. any time to toast the High Life together.”
From 1906 until 1969, Miller High Life was marketed as “The Champagne of Bottle Beers,” as a nod to the winelike shape of its bottle. In 1969, the company shortened it to simply “The Champagne of Beers.”
Champagne producers have long been protective of the label. In 1987, the Comité Champagne sued Perrier for calling itself “The champagne of mineral waters.” And among the products bearing the name that they successfully have squashed like so many grapes are a perfume by luxury fashion brand Yves St. Laurent, a gold-hued iPhone and a champagne-flavored yogurt from Sweden.
To the growers’ chagrin, some American-made products, including those from brands such as Korbel and Andre can still call themselves “California champagne,” because of a grandfather clause in a 2005 agreement between the United States and the European Union.
