On May 7, the State Intellectual Property Office of China issued a notice on the approval of the implementation of geographical indication products protection for the names of two Burgundy appellations, including Macon and Gervery-Chambertin.

According to the Protocol between the State Intellectual Property Office of China and the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the French National Administration of Origin and Quality on the cooperation of geographical indications in Agriculture and food, the French Burgundy wine industry Association submitted an application for the protection of geographical indications products to China. In accordance with the Provisions on the Protection of Geographical Indication Products and the Measures for the Protection of Foreign Geographical Indication Products, the State Intellectual Property Office has organized a technical review. After passing the examination, the names of two Burgundy subsidiary producing areas, such as Macon and Gervery-Chambertin, were identified as geographical indication products, and protection was implemented from now on.

The decision by China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) was published to coincide with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to France this week, although the process was started back in 2023.

The Confédération des Appellations et des Vignerons de Bourgogne (CAVB), and Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB) welcomed the news, calling it “very good news for our AOCs” and progress made in terms of recognising the AOC’s rights.

“It is the fruit of exemplary cooperation between those involved in the Bourgogne wine industry, and government departments, Institut National des Appellations d’Origine (INAO), Ministry of Agriculture, French Embassy in China,” Thiébault Huber, president of the CAVB, and Laurent Delaunay, president of the BIVB said in a joint-statement.  “In our view, this is a first step, and these two appellations are models for a more general registration of all the Bourgogne appellations.”

Trade of high-end Burgundy wines has remained consistent in Asia over the last five years according to a recent Liv-ex report, and the region has overtaken Bordeaux by value in most Asian regions (apart from Hong Kong), with Burgundy “the region’s new darling”.