Actually the protection of geographic origins can be traced back to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of 1883 (yes, 1883) which slightly predates the EUSSR...the USA has been a member to that treaty since 1887 as one of the earliest signatories, btw...
The EUSSR accelerated this trend though, and even relating to Champagne in particular; they even forced a Swiss village named Champagne to stop using the name “Champagne” for its wine products.