A mini-liberalisation of the French wine sector is raising fears among some traditional growers that their protected vintages will be lost in a sea of homogenised plonk, reports the BBC.
Champagne producers are among the most vociferous opponents of a rule that comes into force on New Year's Day, and which should open up new French wine regions for the first time in nearly a century.
Like all rules governing EU agriculture, the new regulation comes from Brussels - but eight years of tough negotiations have removed some of its original bite.
The idea, when first announced in 2008, was for a more or less complete liberalisation of the sector. Anyone wanting to plant a vine and sell the resulting produce would be allowed to do so.
But such was the outrage - in France and elsewhere - about the damage this might do, the scope of the directive has been considerably reduced.
Still, in its way it does mark something of a revolution.
As of 1 January, the rules on planting new vines in the EU are changing in a fundamental way.
Up till now - in order to protect existing growers - the basic premise was that all new vineyards were prohibited, and special dispensation was required in order to plant.
Now the reverse applies. Now vine-planting is assumed to be legal - unless a good reason can be found to stop it.