Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, the boss of Taittinger Champagne, said the drink had come about accidentally when still wines were left in cold conditions on London docks. 

The name of champagne is protected in Europe, referring to wines produced in the Champagne region of France. 

The Interprofessional Committee of Champagne Wine argues that the French region which gives its name to the bubbly was the first to produce it ‘on a regular basis’.

Mr Taittinger said in an interview with Le Figaro: ‘They created Champagne because of a mistake. Benedictine monks were supplying them with still wines from Champagne, red and white wine. 

However the official champagne committee says on its website: ‘The fact that the French terms ‘champagnisation’ and ‘méthode champenoise’ were appropriated by other vineyards from the 1830s onwards serves to remind us of where the wine and its techniques did actually originate.

‘Quality considerations aside, a timeline based on documentary evidence clearly shows that Champagne is the first ever sparkling wine to have been made on a regular basis by producers in a specific region. And that region is Champagne.’ 

Champagne is exported to 190 countries and represents 13 per cent of global sparkling wine production, the committee says. 

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