By now the hangovers from the new year celebrations must have worn off, and we can face thinking about alcohol again… For all the champagne lovers out there I have some good news: the looming champagne crisis has been averted! The past few years champagne has been steadily rising in popularity all over the world, but as the region of Champagne is protected by an AOC-label (meaning only the bubbly wine actually from that region can be called champagne, otherwise it is ‘sparkling wine’)there is only a small region which can actually produce it. Every inch of the region has been planted with vines, but not enough champagne could be produced. That is why an expansion of the area has been proposed, so that 40 surrounding villages can join the AOC. Currently there are 319 villages in the Champagne-producing area, so this would mean an expansion of almost more than 10%. The plan has been given the green light by the French body which validates the AOC-label, the INAO. Now the villages have to vote about the proposal, but not much resistance is expected: a village in the champagne area can earn up to 1 million euros per hectare of vineyard! But we still have to be patient: even after the expansion has been voted in by the new villages, these areas won’t start producing champagne until the year 2012…