UNESCO has added the historic vineyards and cellars of Champagne and the unique natural climate of Burgundy vineyards to its list of World Heritage Sites, reports Deutsche Welle.
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting in Bonn took its decision on Saturday in a double victory for French wine.
A World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as being of special cultural or natural significance.
UNESCO said the champagne's World Heritage status includes "the places sparkling wine was developed using a second fermentation method in the bottle from the beginning of the 17th century until its early industrialization in the 19th century."
The decision covers three main sites: the historic vineyards of Hautvilliers, Ay and Mareuil-sur-Ay, Saint-Nicaise Hill in Reims, and the Avenue de Champagne and Fort Chabrol in Épernay.
The avenue of Champagne in the city of Épernay is where most of France's most prestigious champagne houses are based, in buildings above kilometers of caves where millions of bottles are stored.
The UNESCO decision covers the vineyards, the wine cellars where the champagnes are produced, as well as the sales and distribution centers.
The vineyards of Burgundy were also listed by the UN's cultural organization, which recommended the site as "an outstanding example of grape cultivation and wine production developed since the High Middle Ages."