What is the European Union?
The global wine industry is regulated primarily at the national level. There are no global wines laws, only reciprocal agreements among countries that govern how one nation will treat the wines of the wine other. However, given its dominant share of the wine industry, the European Union currently represents the closest thing there is to multinational control over the wine trade.
The EU was created in 1993 out of an earlier, smaller, looser confederation of European countries and has expanded in several stages to its present size. Its goal is to coordinate activities among all of its member states so that Europe can act as a single body with the rest of the world to reduce wasteful and counterproductive duplication of efforts internally.
Producing nearly 60% of the world's wine. the EU is obviously a powerful force in the international wine industry. The EU's rulings have a major effect not only on its own member states but also on producers in other countries who want to sell wine in the EU market.
European Union Wine Laws
The European Union goals are to eliminate trade barriers and protectionism within the EU while creating a more unified front for dealing with the rest of the world. As the EU integrated the economies of its member states, it had devlop trade legislation that would apply equally to products in all countries so that consumers would be able to rely on their quality, safety, and value regardless of their country of origin within the European Union. The EU has brought all members countries' food products, which include wine, in line with its three-tiered structure of quality.
In the case of wine, the EU was faced with a hodgepodge of very different national wine systems, some elements of which dated back centuries. Most of the major wine-producing countries specified at least two categories of regions for desgination as quality wine. For example, France had the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée as its main quality wine category. The Italians had their Denominazione di Origine Controllata(DOC) and Denominazione di Origine Controllata Garantita(DOCG) as a superior level that the DOC's could work toward to. Even Germany and Greece have their own unique laws and that consisted of two quality wine categories that bases the grapes on ripeness and sweetness levels, respectively, than on actual quality. We will talk more about those levels when we implement German wine in the future.
Since these systems held a lot of significance to the people of each country and to consumers everywhere, replacing them would have created chaos. Instead, the EU designed an umbrella framework that defined various terms and set certain standards, yet allowed each country to mold its own system to the EU framework. Therefore, wine systems as different as France compared to Germany's were able to coexist under EU wine law. These regulations took effect on August 1st, 2009.
This new EU framework underlies all national systems but is largely transparent. Within the structure, three levels of wines made within the Union are defined as from highest to lowest are(see picture above to get a good visualization):
The highest-quality tier of wines is Protected Designation of Origin(PDO). Prior to 2009, these wines were known as Quality Wine Produced in a Specified Region(QWPSR).
The second-quality tier is Protected Geographical Indication(PGI) wine, which includes all of the wines that were previously table wines with a geographic indication.
The third-quality tier is the category designated simple "Wine." This term is intended to describe table wines that do not carry a geographical indication more specific than single country.
Protected Designation of Origin(PDO)
Wines that fall into this category must be made entirely from grapes grown in the clearly defined region after which they are named, and must be produced within a given area. The individual countries register these wines along with parameters concerning delimited boundaries of the region, maximum yields, permitted grape varieties, defined viticultural practices, allowing enological practices, and predominant analytical and organoleptic characteristics of the wine.
Protected Geographical Indication(PGI)
Wine that fall under this category who qualities can be attributes to being produced from a registered geographical region or specific place. Compared to a PDO region, a PGI region is typically larger and more heterogeneous. To qualify as a PGI wine, at least 85% of the grapes must come from the defined geographical area after which it is named, and the wine must be produced in this geographical area.
Similarly to PDO wines, these wines must adhere to rules and regulations governing viticultural and enological practices. However, these rules and regulations are generally less restrictive than wines from the PDO level and do not necessarily need to be typical of the region. For example, international varieties that are not traditional to the region can often be used.
Wine
Products belonging to the EU category "wine" are table wines without geographical indication more specific than a single country. Grapes for these wines may be sourced from anywhere within a country or the EU. Although these wines previously could not include much information on the label, the new regulations concerning this category permit the grape variety and or vintage date on their labels as long as they are produced from a minimum of 85% of the named variety or vintage. This more permissive regulation enables these wines to compete more with the New-World wines that label their wines by the varietal.
EU Labeling Laws Recap
Within the EU, wine labels are required to state the wine's category and, as permitted, its place of origin. There are a number of other labeling requirements, the most important of which are listed below:
If a protected place-name is stated, the wine must be entirely from that region for PDO wines and at least 85% from that region for PGI wines.
If a vintage date is stated, at least 85% of the wine must be from that year.
If a single grape variety is stated, at least 85% of the wine must be from that variety.
If two or more grape varieties are stated, 100% of the wine must be from those varieties, and they must be listed in descending order of percentages. EU Labeling Laws - Sparkling
Quality Sparkling Wine -- Wines with Carbon Dioxide produced wholly by a secondary fermentation in the bottle that are subject to disgorgement, and with a minimum of nine months aging on the lees.
Sparkling Wine -- Must contain a minimum of 3 atm of pressure, carbon dioxide may come via a first or second fermentation but may not be injected
Aerated Sparkling Wine -- Wines that have a "sparkle" is derived from the addition of Carbon Dixoide
Comments