The guardians of Champagne will let no one take the name of the bubbly beverage in vain – not even a US beer behemoth. For years, Miller High Life has used the “Champagne of Beers” slogan, but this week that appropriation became impossible to swallow.
At the request of the trade body defending the interests of houses and growers of the north-eastern French sparkling wine, Belgian customs workers crushed more than 2,000 cans of Miller High Life advertised as such. The Comite Champagne asked for the destruction of a shipment of 2,352 cans on the grounds that the century-old motto used by the American brewery infringes the protected designation of origin “Champagne”.
The consignment was intercepted at the Belgian port of Antwerp in early February, a spokesperson at the Belgian Customs Administration said, and was destined for Germany. Molson Coors Beverage Co, which owns the Miller High Life brand, does not export it to the EU, and Belgian customs declined to say who had ordered the beers.
