Miller High Life, “The Champagne of Beers,” has fallen afoul of strict European laws on “champagne”

It doesn’t matter if a drink is bubbly — it’s not “champagne” unless it’s from the Champagne region in France. And it’s definitely not champagne if it’s beer, as American beermaker Miller found out, to its cost.

The company has long advertised its Miller High Life as “The Champagne of Beers.” However, the Comité Champagne — the committee set up to protect the Champagne designation — begs to differ.

Goods cannot be imported into Europe with the name “Champagne” if they are not produced in the Champagne region.

Customs officers in Belgium seized a shipment of 2,352 cans of the beer in February, after it landed in the Belgian port of Antwerp, on its way to Germany. Officials seized the cans “because they used the protected designation of…