Publication of a communication of approval of a standard amendment to a product specification for a name in the wine sector, as referred to in Article 17(2) and (3) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33

(2022/C 298/09)

This communication is published in accordance with Article 17(5) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33 (1).

COMMUNICATION OF A STANDARD AMENDMENT TO THE SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘Coteaux Varois en Provence’

PDO-FR-A0725-AM02

Date of communication: 18 May 2022

DESCRIPTION OF AND REASONS FOR THE APPROVED AMENDMENT

1. Name of the designation

The spelling of the designation ‘Coteaux Varois en Provence’ has been harmonised throughout the specification by capitalising the ‘V’ in ‘Varois’.

This amendment does not affect the single document.

2. Areas in which the various operations are carried out

Chapter I of the product specification for the designation ‘Coteaux Varois en Provence’ has been amended; point ‘IV - Zones and areas in which the various operations are carried out’ has been supplemented by the reference to the Official Geographical Code, which recognises and lists the municipalities by department at national level. This editorial amendment allows the geographical area to be identified with reference to the 2020 version of the Official Geographical Code, which is updated by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), and gives the definition of the geographical area legal certainty.

The same reference has been added to the single document under the headings ‘Geographical area’ and ‘Area in immediate proximity’.

3. Vineyard management

Chapter I of the product specification for the designation ‘Coteaux Varois en Provence’ has been amended; point ‘VI - Vineyard management’ has been updated as regards the planting density rules. The minimum number of plants per hectare has been removed. The planting density is calculated in relation to a maximum area per plant of 2,5 square metres. This surface area is obtained by multiplying the spacing between the rows by the spacing between the vines. The distance between rows must not be more than 2,5 metres and the distance between vines in the same row must be at least 0,80 metres.

The single document has been amended under the point ‘Wine-making practices’.

4. Wine marketing measures

Chapter I of the product specification for the designation ‘Coteaux Varois en Provence’ has been amended under point ‘IX. 4 - Provisions regarding placing the wine on the market for sale to consumers’ in order to abolish the date from which wines may circulate between the various traders. The abolition of this date allows wines to move freely between traders as soon as wine-making ends.

This amendment does not affect the single document.

5. Declaration requirements

Chapter II of the product specification for the designation ‘Coteaux Varois en Provence’ has been amended under point 3. ‘Declaration prior to bottling/packaging’ to simply specify that any operator wishing to bottle/package a wine covered by the designation must submit a bottling/packaging declaration for the batch concerned to the approved inspection body. The batch is defined as a homogeneous unit from one or more containers. The declaration procedures required of operators shall be included in the control plan for the designation.

This amendment does not affect the single document.

6. Main points of the specifications to be checked

Chapter III of the product specification for the designation ‘Coteaux Varois en Provence’ has been amended to update the list of the main points of the product specification used to check the wine.

This amendment does not affect the single document.

The contact details of the control authority in Chapter III have also been updated. This update has also been made in the single document under ‘Contact details’.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

1. Name(s)

Coteaux Varois en Provence

2. Type of geographical indication

PDO – Protected Designation of Origin

3. Categories of grapevine product

1. Wine

4. Description of the wine(s)

1. Analytical description

BRIEF WRITTEN DESCRIPTION

The wines with the designation ‘Coteaux Varois en Provence’ are red, rosé and white still wines.

At the time of packaging, the red wines have a malic acid content not exceeding 0,4 grams per litre.

After fermentation, the wines have a fermentable sugar content (glucose + fructose) of less than or equal to 4 g/l for the white and rosé wines, and 3 g/l for the red wines.

The wines have a minimum natural alcoholic strength by volume of 11 %.

The other analytical criteria are in line with EU rules.

General analytical characteristics Maximum total alcoholic strength (in % volume) Minimum actual alcoholic strength (in % volume) Minimum total acidity in milliequivalents per litre Maximum volatile acidity (in milliequivalents per litre) Maximum total sulphur dioxide (in milligrams per litre)

2. Organoleptic description

BRIEF WRITTEN DESCRIPTION

The rosé wines, which are dry with a deep, vibrant pink colour, feature the three Provencal varieties Cinsaut N, Grenache N and Syrah N, and are characterised by aromas of fresh and often red fruit. Some spicy or ‘garrigue’ notes, reminiscent of thyme, rosemary, broom, juniper, etc., sometimes add to the complexity of their aromatic profile. These wines have a good balance between freshness and structure on the palate.

The red wines come mainly from the harmonious blending of the Grenache N, Syrah N and Mourvèdre N varieties. They are generous and well-structured wines that keep well, with rich and silky tannins, their fruity notes moving towards scents of spices and of garrigue scrubland.

The dry white wines are made mainly from the Vermentino B variety, often combined with the Grenache B, Clairette B, Sémillon B or Ugni blanc B varieties, and are delicately perfumed. They have a good balance between freshness and roundness.

General analytical characteristics Maximum total alcoholic strength (in % volume) Minimum actual alcoholic strength (in % volume) Minimum total acidity in milliequivalents per litre Maximum volatile acidity (in milliequivalents per litre) Maximum total sulphur dioxide (in milligrams per litre)

5. Wine-making practices

5.1. Specific oenological practices

Cultivation method

Planting density:

The area available for each plant must not exceed 2,5 square metres. This surface area is obtained by multiplying the spacing between the rows by the spacing between the vines.

The distance between the rows must not be more than 2,5 metres and the distance between vines in the same row must be at least 0,80 metres.

— The vines are spur-pruned (gobelet or cordon de Royat); Each vine has a maximum of 6 spurs with a maximum of 2 buds, or a maximum of 12 buds per vine.

— The Cabernet-Sauvignon N and Syrah N varieties may be cane-pruned (the ‘Guyot’ method), with a maximum of 10 buds per vine, including 8 buds on the long wood. Irrigation during the vine growing season is permitted only if persistent drought disrupts the sound physiological development of the vines and the ripening of the grapes.

Specific oenological practice

In the production of rosé wines, use of oenological charcoal is permitted for musts and young wines still in fermentation following pressing. This is limited to 20 % of the volume of rosé wines produced by an individual winemaker for each harvest.

The wine-making practices followed must comply with EU rules and the Rural and Maritime Fishing Code as well as with the above provisions.

5.2. Maximum yields

60 hectolitres per hectare

6. Demarcated geographical area

The grapes are harvested and the wines produced and developed in the following municipalities of the department of Var, based on the 2020 Official Geographic Code: Barjols, Bras, Brignoles, Brue-Auriac, Camps-la-Source, La Celle, Châteauvert, Forcalqueiret, Garéoult, Méounes-lès-Montrieux, Nans-les-Pins, Néoules, Ollières, Pontevès, Rocbaron, La Roquebrussanne, Rougiers, Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, Saint-Zacharie, Sainte-Anastasie-sur-Issole, Salernes, Seillons-Source-d’Argens, Signes, Tavernes, Tourves, Le Val, Varages and Villecroze.

7. Wine grape variety(-ies)

Cabernet-Sauvignon N

Carignan N

Cinsaut N - Cinsault

Clairette B

Grenache N

Grenache blanc B

Mourvèdre N - Monastrell

Sémillon B

Syrah N - Shiraz

Tibouren N

Ugni blanc B

Vermentino B - Rolle

8. Description of the link(s)

8.1. Description of the natural factors relevant to the link

The geographical area is part of the ‘limestone Provence’ natural region. Bordered to the south by the mountains of the Toulon region and of Sainte-Baume, to the east by the Barre de Saint-Quinis, to the north by the Canjuers plateaux and to the west by Mount Aurélien and the Sainte-Victoire cliff, the region is distinguished by marked reliefs with altitudes between 600 metres and over 1 000 metres above sea level on the Saint-Baume massif. It covers 28 municipalities in the department of Var, grouped around Brignoles.

Within the geographical area, the parcels for grape harvesting have been precisely demarcated in line with the usual practices for deciding where to plant vineyards.

Its geology and topography are characterised, on the one hand, by a series of clay-limestone plains oriented from east to west, alternating with areas of ‘gravettes’ (a local term denoting stony alluvial and colluvial deposits) and flints and, on the other hand, by a high plateau consisting of Triassic formations within which the main rivers of the Var originate.

The altitude of the wine-growing area, 350 metres to 500 metres for the highest plots, and the presence of calcareous rocky massifs which stop the maritime influences, give the Mediterranean climate of the geographical area a more continental character, as illustrated by the proliferation of holly oak in the Brignoles region and common oak to the north. Annual rainfall varies from 700 mm to 900 mm and average temperatures fluctuate around 13 °C. Autumn and spring are often very mild. Summers are characterised by sometimes high temperatures during the day, tempered by cooler nights. Winters are very cold and harsh, more extreme than in the rest of the Provençal region.

The wine-growing area, nestled between the wooded limestone massifs, is planted on flint clay and on the foothills of limestone slopes covered with stony gravel. The valleys are narrow with basins at varying altitudes. It is surrounded by the geographical area covered by the controlled designations of origin ‘Côtes de Provence’ and ‘Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence’, but is distinguished by the nature of its exclusively limestone (or clay-limestone) soils and by its cooler climate.

8.2. Description of the human factors relevant to the link

Although vines have been planted here since Roman times, the spread of vineyards came to a stop following the barbarian invasions of the 5th and 6th centuries. Vineyards later flourished once more, encouraged by the monks of Saint Victor Abbey, and later by the Knights Templar and the Counts of Provence, who resided in Brignoles. The resulting wines were mainly consumed locally, in particular by the Counts of Provence or at the Parliament of Aix, from the Middle Ages until the end of the 19th century.

The continental location of the geographical area led farmers to live self-sufficiently, growing vines, cereals and olive trees in the same plot, creating a typical woodland landscape.

As is the case for the entire Provence wine-growing area, the range of vine varieties is very diverse as a result of exchanges along the channels of communication between Spain, Italy and the Rhône valley, which cross the geographical area. A dozen grape varieties were gradually selected due to their adaptation to the characteristics of the area and their ability to produce quality wines, including Cinsaut N, Grenache N and Grenache blanc B, Mourvèdre N, Syrah N, Tibouren N, Carignan N, Clairette B, Ugni B and Vermentino B (known locally as ‘Rolle’).

The end of the 19th century, marked by the development of the bauxite mines around Brignoles, helped to encourage the development of vine cultivation by miners seeking additional income. This development in the exploitation of vineyards increased the influence of wine-making cooperatives, which arose at the beginning of the 20th century and were very well established in the centre of the Department of Var.

The name ‘Coteaux varois’ appeared for the first time in 1945 in a regulation fixing the prices of wines. An Order of 29 January 1975, supplemented by another Order of 18 December 1978, defines the production area for ‘Vin de Pays des Coteaux varois’. The Order of 28 June 1984 recognises the designation of origin ‘Coteaux varois’ as a ‘vin délimité de qualité supérieure’ (wine with appellation of origin of high quality). The protected designation of origin was recognised on 26 March 1993 under the name ‘Coteaux varois’ and as ‘Coteaux varois en Provence’ on 2 August 2005.

In 2009, 117 500 hectolitres were produced on 2 560 hectares by 81 private and 10 cooperative wineries.

Rosé wines accounted for 85 % of production, red wines 12,5 % and white wines 2,5 %.

8.3. Causal interactions

The Mediterranean climate with a continental influence, which is cooler than in coastal areas, combined with stony clay-limestone soils with a balanced water regime that easily warm up, promotes the ripening of grapes and polyphenols by limiting water stress. The alternation of cool nights and hot days, specific to this geographical area during the summer season, helps to improve the quality and ripening of polyphenols, particularly during the period preceding the harvest. This polyphenolic characteristic is one of the reasons why the red wines have such rich and fine tannins.

The vineyards are under the influence of the Mistral, a violent, cold and dry northern wind, which cleans it throughout its growing cycle by limiting the development of cryptogamic diseases, particularly after the frequent storms in August.

All of these characteristics encourage the production of a ripe and concentrated harvest that is healthy, producing fruity and complex wines with a pleasant and characteristic balance between roundness and vivacity.

The popularity and reputation of wines with the controlled designation of origin ‘Coteaux Varois en Provence’ are increasing, at the heart of Provence, thanks to the dynamism of the producers who benefit from a ‘House of Wines’ based in the former abbey of La Celle, a place of peace and retreat. Bordered by a cypress alley, its walled garden has been turned into a French vineyard with a collection of more than 80 grape varieties from the Provence region.

9. Essential further conditions (packaging, labelling, other requirements)

Legal framework:

National legislation

Type of further condition:

Derogation concerning production in the demarcated geographical area

Description of the condition:

The area in immediate proximity, defined by derogation for the production of wines, comprises the territory of the following municipalities, on the basis of the 2020 Official Geographical Code:

— Department of Var: Besse-sur-Issole, Carcès, Correns, Cotignac, Cuers, Entrecasteaux, Flassans-sur-Issole, Montfort-sur-Argens, Pierrefeu-du-Var and Pourcieux;

— Department of Bouches-du-Rhône: Auriol.

Legal framework:

National legislation

Type of further condition:

Additional provisions relating to labelling

Description of the condition:

a) Wine labelling may specify the larger geographical unit ‘Vin de Provence’. The size of the letters for this geographical unit must not be larger, in either height or width, than the size of the letters forming the name of the protected designation of origin. The larger geographical unit ‘Vin de Provence’ must appear in the same field of vision as the name of the controlled designation of origin.

b) Wines may specify a smaller geographical unit on their labels, provided that: — it is a place name listed in the land registry; — it appears on the harvest declaration. The place name must be printed in letters no larger, either in height or in width, than half the size of the letters forming the name of the designation of origin.

Link to the product specification

https://info.agriculture.gouv.fr/gedei/site/bo-agri/document_administratif-56db90a9-1adb-44fb-806d-d89e584cfdf9

(1) OJ L 9, 11.1.2019, p. 2.