HAD NO LEGAL BASIS UNDER THE RULES ON THE ORGANIZATION OF THE COMMON MARKET IN WINE AS THEY STOOD ( AS LAID DOWN IN COUNCIL REGULATION NO 337/79 OF 5 FEBRUARY 1979 ON THE COMMON ORGANIZATION OF THE MARKET IN WINE ( OFFICIAL JOURNAL 1979 , L 54 , P . 1 )), WHICH DID NOT PROHIBIT THE MIXTURES AT ISSUE OR THE MARKETING THEREOF .
6 THE TRIBUNAL CORRECTIONNEL ( CRIMINAL COURT ) MONTPELLIER , ACQUITTING THE ACCUSED , HELD THAT THERE WAS NO DEFINITION OF ROSE WINES UNDER EITHER FRENCH OR COMMUNITY LEGISLATION AND THAT THERE WAS NOTHING TO PREVENT THE PRODUCTION OF ROSE TABLE WINES BY THE COUPAGE OF ROSE WINES AND RED WINES BOTH BELONGING TO THE SAME CATEGORY OF PRODUCTS . THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR AND THE FEDERATION APPEALED TO THE COUR D ' APPEL , MONTPELLIER .
7 THE COUR D ' APPEL OBSERVES IN ITS ORDER FOR REFERENCE IN THE FIRST PLACE THAT THE WINES IN QUESTION WERE MARKETED UNDER THE APPELLATION ' VIN ROSE DE TABLE DPCE ' , MEANING ROSE TABLE WINE ' FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY ' , SO THAT THE PURCHASER COULD BE IN NO DOUBT AS TO THEIR ORIGIN AND THEIR PRINCIPAL , TRADITIONAL QUALITIES . THEREFORE , IN THE VIEW OF THE COUR D ' APPEL , THE PROBLEM RAISED CONCERNS ESSENTIALLY THE LEGALITY OF COUPAGE WITHIN THE TERRITORY OF THE COMMUNITY OF RED AND ROSE TABLE WINES FROM VARIOUS COUNTRIES OF THE COMMUNITY . IN THE SECOND PLACE , CONSIDERING THAT SERIOUS DOUBT EXISTS REGARDING A QUESTION OF PRINCIPLE , NAMELY THE LEGALITY OF THE COUPAGE CARRIED OUT , AND THAT IT IS IN THE GENERAL AND PUBLIC INTEREST TO REMOVE ANY AMBIGUITY WHICH MAY PERSIST IN THAT CONNECTION , THE COUR D ' APPEL HAS DECIDED THAT THE MATTER SHOULD BE REFERRED TO THE COURT OF JUSTICE AND HAS SUBMITTED THE FOLLOWING QUESTION FOR A PRELIMINARY RULING :
' DO THE COMMUNITY RULES , AS THEY STAND AT PRESENT , AUTHORIZE THE COUPAGE WITHIN THE COMMUNITY OF RED WINES AND ROSE WINES FROM ANY AREA OF THE SAID COMMUNITY AND THE MARKETING THEREOF IN ANY SUCH AREA UNDER THE APPELLATION ' ' VIN ROSE DPCE ' ' OR ' ' VIN ROUGE DPCE ' ' ?
'
8 IT IS APPARENT FROM THE DOCUMENTS BEFORE THE COURT THAT THE QUESTION SUBMITTED RELATES ONLY TO THE COUPAGE OF RED AND ROSE TABLE WINES ORIGINATING IN VARIOUS MEMBER STATES AND THE MARKETING OF THE WINE RESULTING FROM SUCH COUPAGE UNDER THE DESCRIPTION ' ROSE TABLE WINE FROM VARIOUS COUNTRIES OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY ' .
9 THE FEDERATION CLAIMS , IN SUBSTANCE , THAT ALTHOUGH ARTICLE 43 ( 3 ) OF REGULATION NO 337/79 LAYS DOWN THE GENERAL RULE THAT THE COUPAGE OF A WHITE TABLE WINE WITH A RED TABLE WINE MAY NOT YIELD A TABLE WINE , THAT REGULATION DOES NOT LAY DOWN EXHAUSTIVE RULES FOR THE COUPAGE OF TABLE WINES . THUS THE REGULATION CONTAINS