'Champanillo' v. Champagne: Barcelona area tapas bars draw ire of sparkling wine lobby

Should a small business in the Barcelona area be allowed to be called something allegedly evocative of France's appellation-protected sparkling wine? Or should any product or service (wine-related or not) called champagne (or anything remotely similar) stay in Champagne?

These are the questions the European Union's top court issued an opinion on on Thursday – and things aren't looking too good for David Iglesias, the owner of four 'Champanillo' tapas bars in Barcelona and two other nearby towns.  

'Champanillo', which means 'small champagne' in Spanish, drew the ire of France's sparkling wine lobby, the Comité Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne (CIVC), back in 2017 when they first took Iglesias to court.