Farmer Guy Robertson was surprised by a call from France after mentioning a use for his rhubarb on a Facebook page aimed at locals in the town of Penguin

This article is more than 5 months old

This article is more than 5 months old

A Tasmanian farmer has received a legal warning from French officials after mentioning on Facebook he had brewed “rhubarb champagne” in a message to locals who receive his produce.

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Guy Robertson, the owner of Mount Gnomon Farm in the Tasmanian town of Penguin, learned that even in a global pandemic, French champagne makers take the protection of their labelling rights extremely seriously, as first reported by the ABC.

“I’d literally just listened to the world news where they talked about all the death in the European country, and then my phone rings, it’s a call from someone with a French accent,” Robertson said.

“He said ‘something important has been brought to the attention of our legal team, and that’s your rhubarb champagne’.”

The champagne in question was 10 litres of homebrew that a farmworker had made with some extra rhubarb the farm had harvested.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Facebook post from Mount Gnomon Farm that got Guy Robertson in trouble with the French officials who patrol unacceptable uses of the term ‘champagne’. Photograph: Courtesy Mount Gnomon Farm

Robertson said the farm had no intention of making money from the drink; he had simply suggested it on Facebook as a fun way to use the rhubarb included in the local produce boxes he sells.

“He said to me, ‘Although the situation’s really bad around the world and although it’s not the perfect time to ring about an issue like this, it is something we take very seriously in my job. I’ve been doing it for three years to make sure that nobody abuses the term champagne.”

The Comité Champagne is one of the organisations tasked with ensuring only sparkling wine from the Champagne region in France carries the name champagne.

“He said, ‘I’ve checked out your website and your Facebook, and it looks like it’s not part of your online shop, but, if you do commercialise it, you will have to call it something separate’,” Robertson said.

Robertson said rather than upsetting him, the legal warning made his day.

“It was quite funny. It gave me a bit of energy for the day, that’s for sure, that in the scheme of things he would call.”

The Mount Gnomon Farm usually sells its produce at farmers’ markets and to restaurants, but lost almost all its business overnight when physical distancing restrictions came in.

In order to keep the farm running, Robertson has started home-delivering local produce boxes to the Penguin area.

“We are busy with the Easter deliveries at the moment, but after that we were thinking of putting up a naming competition for the rhubarb champagne on Facebook … We could give away a bottle of it, maybe.

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“Someone suggested Rhu-bubbles, which I like,” Robertson said.

He is now considering serving the drink in the farm’s restaurant when it is allowed to open again.

One question remains: who dobbed in the farm to the French officials?

“It must have been somebody that knew about the farm that was French,” Robertson said.

“I guess some people just have too much time on their hands in quarantine.”