For a wine to be labled as Champagne, all of the grapes used to make that wine have to be grown in Champagne. In addition, the secondary fermentation must take place within the bottl the wine is going to be drank from, not in a tank.

All the vineyards in Champagne are rated according to L'echelle des crus (ladder of growths). The ladder was created by the Comité Interprofessional du Vin de Champagne (CIVC). The CIVC sets a value for the fruit grown in the different villages in percentages. The grand cru fruit is valued at 100%, Premier Cru at 90-99%, and Village aread at 80-89%. There are 17 Grand Cru and 40 Premier Cru villages.

The following special terms can appear on Champagne labels:

NM- Négociant-Manipulant: a commerical house that buys grapes

CM- Coopérative-Manipulant: a grower cooperative

RM- Récoltant-Manipulant: a grower/producer

MA- Marque-Auxillaire: a brand name

RC- Récoltant-Coopérative: a grower working with a cooperative

SR- Société de Récoltants: a grower partnership

ND- Négociant-Distributeur a distributor label