CELEX: 31974R2893
Language: en
Date: 1974-11-18 00:00:00
Title: Regulation (EEC) No 2893/74 of the Council of 18 November 1974 on sparkling wines produced in the Community and specified in item 12 of Annex II to Regulation (EEC) No 816/70

21 . 11 . 74                               Official Journal of the European Communities                            No L 310/ 1
                                                                   I
                                                (Acts whose publication is obligatory)
                                   REGULATION (EEC) No 2893/74 OF THE COUNCIL
                                                        of 18 November 1974
               on sparkling wines produced in the Community and specified in item 12 of
                                            Annex II to Regulation (EEC) No 816/70
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                           demand 'and therefore lead to expansion in wine
COMMUNITIES,                                                          outlets ;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                 Whereas it is needful that all sparkling wines, together
Economic Community, and in particular Article 43                      with the grape musts and v^ines used in producing
thereof ;                                                             them, be subject to minimum quality requirements ;
                                                                      whereas it should therefore be stipulated that the afore­
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ;                   mentioned raw materials be table wines or products
                                                                      suitable for yielding table wines, or quality wines psr
Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parlia­                  or products suitable for yielding quality wines psr ;
ment (') ;
                                                                      Whereas the quality requirements should be applied
Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and                      not only to the raw materials but also to the methods
Social Committee ;                                                    of preparation and the finished product ; whereas it is
                                                                      further in the interests of both producer and
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 8 1 6/70 (2) of                   consumer that appropriate packaging be laid down,
28 April 1970 laying down additional provisions for
the common organization of the market in wine, as
last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1 532/74 (3),
contains rules for the preparation and marketing of                   HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
table wines ; whereas it is necessary to supplement
these rules by laying down corresponding provisions
for all sparkling wines produced in the Community,                                              Article 1
taking into account the fact that the quality sparkling
wines produced in specified regions are sparkling
quality wines psr and must therefore also satisfy Regu­               This Regulation lays down rules supplementing those
lation (EEC) No 817/70 (4) ;                                          given in Regulation (EEC) No 816/70 as regards the
                                                                      production and marketing of sparkling wines defined
Whereas it is desirable to subject these sparkling                    in item 12 of Annex II to the above Regulation .
wines to common rules in respect of production,
marketing and controls to avoid distortions of competi­
tion and ensure protection of the consumer whilst                                               Article 2
maintaining qualitative distinctions.
                                                                      For products manufactured in the Community the
Whereas a measure of this type will help to guide the                 designation :
consumer in his choice by providing the necessary
assurance that each of the products offered to him                     1 . 'sparkling wine' shall be reserved for wines fitting
satisfies specific quality requirements ; whereas it will,                 the description given in item 12 of Annex II to
by the same token , protect the interests of the                           Regulation ( EEC) No 816/ 70 and the provisions of
producers, promote intra-Community trade, increase                         Titles I and II of the present Regulation .
                                                                      2 . 'quality sparkling wine' shall be reserved for wines
(') OJ   No  C 78 , 2 . 8 . 1971 , p. 76 .                                 fitting the description given in item 12 of Annex II
(2) OJ   No  L 99 , 5 . 5 . 1970 , p. 1 .
(3) OJ   No  L 166, 21 . 6. 1974, p. 1 .                                   to Regulation ( EEC) No 816/70 and the provisions
 4) OJ   No  L 99 , 5 . 5 . 1970 , p. 20 .                                 of Titles I and III of the present Regulation .
 ---pagebreak--- No L 310/2                         Official Journal of the European Communities                            21 . 11 . 74
                         TITLE I                              However, each Member State may, where climatic
                                                              conditions in its territory make it necessary, authorize
                                                              the enrichment of the cuvée at the place of prepara­
General provisions for all wines referred to in               tion of the sparkling wines, provided that :
                         Article 1
                                                              (a) none of the constituents of the cuvée has previ­
                         Article 3                                ously undergone enrichment ;
                                                              (b) its constituents are derived solely from grapes
For the purposes of this Regulation,                               harvested in its territory ;
(a) cuvée shall mean :
                                                              (c) the process of enrichment is carried out in a single
     — grape must,                                                 operation ;
     — wine                                                   (d) the following limits are not exceeded :
         or
                                                                  — 35° for a cuvée composed of constituents
     — the product of the mixing of grape musts or                     from wine-growing zone A, provided that the
         wines with different characteristics,                         natural alcoholic strength of each constituent
                                                                       is at least 5° ;
     intended for the preparation of a specific variety of
     the wines referred to in Article 1 -,                             however, in years when climatic conditions are
(b) drawn-off liquid (liquer de tirage) shall mean :                   exceptionally bad, the limit mentioned in the
                                                                       preceding subparagraph may be raised to 4 5°
     the product added to the cuvée to render it effer­                provided that the natural alcoholic strength of
     vescent ;                                                         each constituent of the cuvée is at least 5° ;
(c) dose (liquer d'expédition) shall mean :                        — 25° for a cuvée composed of constituents
     the product which is to be added to the wines                     from wine-growing zone B, provided that the
     referred to in Article 1 to give them special taste               natural alcoholic strength of each constituent
     qualities.                                                        is at least 6° ;
                                                                       however, in years when climatic conditions are
                         Article 4                                     exceptionally bad, the limit mentioned in the
                                                                       preceding subparagraph may be raised to 35° ,
 1.    The drawn-off« liquid may contain only yeast and                provided that the natural alcoholic strength of
                                                                       each constituent of the cuvée. is at least 6° ;
— grape must,
— grape must still in fermentation,                                — 2° for a cuvée composed of constituents from
                                                                       wine-growing zones C I, C II or C III,
— concentrated grape must
                                                                       provided that the natural alcoholic strength of
     or                                                                each constituent is at least 7° , 8° or 8 5° ,
— sucrose and wine .                                                   respectively.
2.     The dose may contain only                                   The above limits in no way prejudge the applica­
                                                                   tion of the second subparagraph of Article 27 (3)
— sucrose ,                                                        (a) of Regulation (EEC) No 816/70 to cuvées
— grape must,                                                      intended for preparation of sparkling wines and,
                                                                   up to 31 August 1987, to cuvées intended for prep­
— grape must still in fermentation ,                               aration of quality sparkling wines other than
— concentrated grape must,                                         quality sparkling wines produced in specified
— wine                                                             regions ;
     or
                                                              (e) the method used is addition of dry sucrose or of
— a mixture thereof,                                               concentrated grape musts ;
with the possible addition of distilled wine.                 (f) enrichment by the method used is practised in the
                                                                   Member State concerned, either traditionally or
                                                                   exceptionally, in accordance with the rules
                         Article 5
                                                                   existing on the date of entry into force of this
                                                                   Regulation .
 1 . Without prejudice to enrichment authorized
pursuant to Regulation (EEC) No 816/70 and, where
appropriate, Regulation (EEC) No 817/70, for the               2.    The addition of drawn-off liquid and dosage
constituents of a cuvée, any enrichment of the cuvée           shall be considered      neither as enrichment nor as
shall be prohibited .                                          sweetening.
 ---pagebreak--- 21 . 11 . 74                            Official Journal of the European Communities                            No L 310/3
The addition of drawn-off liquid may not cause an                                          Article 7
increase in the total alcoholic strength of the cuvee of
more than 1-5° .
                                                                   1 . Member States shall exercise supervision over the
Dosage shall be carried out in such a way as not to                production and marketing of the wines referred to in
                                                                  Article 1 .            »
increase the actual alcoholic strength of the wines
referred to in Article 1 by more than 0-5° .
                                                                   2.    Producers of the wines referred to in Article 1
3. Sweetening of the cuvee and its constituents                    shall be required to make a declaration to this effect
shall be prohibited.                                               to the competent authority of the Member State on
                                                                   whose territory such wine is prepared.
4.     In addition to any acidification or deacidification
of the constituents of the cuvee in accordance with
Regulation (EEC) No 816/70, the cuvee may be                       Without prejudice to Article 29 of Regulation (EEC)
                                                                   No 816/70, the producers of the wines referred to in
subject to acidification or deacidification .
                                                                   Article 1 shall keep registers of raw materials, cuvees
Acidification and deacidification of the cuvee shall be            and processing.
mutually exclusive.
                                                                   3 . Implementing rules for this Article, particularly
Acidification may be carried out only up to a                      as regards the nature of the supervision, shall be
maximum of 1-5 g/1, expressed as tartaric acid, i.e. 20            adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down
milliequivalents per litre.                                        in Article 7 of Regulation No 24.
In years of exceptional climatic conditions, the
maximum limit of 1-5 g/1, or 20 milliequivalents per
litre, may be raised to 2-5 g/1, or 34 milliequivalents                                    Article 8
per litre, provided that the natural acidity of the
product is not less than 3 g/1, expressed as tartaric               1.   The wines referred to in Article 1 may be bottled
acid, or 40 milliequivalents per litre.                            only in glass bottles, and stopped with a 'mushroom'
                                                                   cork which has a seal and is wired to the bottle .
5. Implementing rules for this Article, particularly
the authorizing of the exceptional enrichment or acidi­
fication referred to in the second subparagraph of the             They shall not be kept for marketing nor placed on
first indent and the second subparagraph of the                    the market except in bottles with a label identifying
second indent of paragraph 1 (d) and the last subpara­             them and a foil covering the whole of the cork and
                                                                   neck of the bottle .
graph of paragraph 4, shall be adopted in accordance
with the procedure laid down in Article 7 of Regula­
tion No 24 (*).                                                    2. The wines referred to in Article 1 may only bear
                                                                   the markings :
                          Article 6                                — 'brut' :              if their residual sugar content is
                                                                                           less than 15 g/1 ;
 1.    The   carbon    dioxide    contained     in the  wines
                                                                   — 'extra-dry' :         if their residual sugar content is
referred to in Article 1 may be produced only as a                                         between 12 g/1 and 20 g/1 ;
result of the alcoholic fermentation of the cuvee from
which such wine has been prepared.                                 — 'sec' :               if their residual sugar content is
                                                                                           between 17 g/1 and 35 g/1 ;
2. Except in the case of fermentation intended to                  — 'demi-sec' :          if their residual sugar content is
transform grapes or grape must or grape must still in                                      between 33 g/1 and 50 g/1 ;
fermentation directly into sparkling wine, this fermen­            — 'doux' :              if their residual sugar content is
tation may only result from the addition of drawn-off                                      more than 50 g/1 .
liquid .
 It may only take place in bottles or closed vats.
                                                                    3 . Implementing rules for this Article and possible
3 . The use of carbon dioxide in the process of                     derogations from paragraph 1 shall be laid down in
transfer by counter pressure shall be authorized under             accordance with the procedure provided for in Article
supervision and provided that it does not increase the              7 of Regulation No 24.
 pressure of the carbon dioxide contained in the wines
 referred to in Article 1 .
                                                                                            Article 9
4. Implementing rules for this Article shall be
adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down
 in Article 7 of Regulation No 24.                                  1 . The provisions laid clown in this Regulation,
                                                                    except those referred to in Article 7, shall not apply to
  ') OJ No 30, 20 . 4. 1962, p . 989 / 62 .                        dietetic sparkling wines .
 ---pagebreak--- No L 310/4                        Official Journal of the European Communities                           21 . 11 . 74
2. Rules applicable to the marketing of such                                        Article 14
dietetic wines and designed to prevent confusion
between the latter and the wines referred to in Article
                                                            The actual alcoholic strength of quality sparkling
1 shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure          wines, including the alcohol contained in the dose
laid down in Article 7 of Regulation No 24.                  which may be added, shall be not less than 10° .
                        TITLE II                             Up to 31 August 1987, this provision in no way
                                                             prejudges the application of the second subparagraph
       Special provisions on sparkling wines                 of Article 27 (3) (a) of Regulation (EEC) No 816/70 .
                       Article 10
The total alcoholic strength of the cuvees intended for                             Article 15
the preparation of sparkling wines shall be not less
than 8-5° .                                                  1 . In preparing the drawn-off liquid intended for
                                                             the preparation of quality sparkling wine, only the
                       Article 11                            following may be used in addition to yeasts and
                                                             sucrose :
Without prejudice to the second paragraph of Article
27 (3) (a) of Regulation (EEC) No 816/70, the actual         — grape must or grape must still in fermentation
alcoholic strength of sparkling wines, including the             from which a wine suitable for yielding a table
alcohol contained in the dose which may be added                 wine can be obtained,
shall be not less than 9-5° .
                                                             — wines suitable for yielding a table wine,
                       Article 12
                                                             — table wines
1 . Without prejudice to more restrictive provisions             or
that Member States may impose on sparkling wines
produced within their territory, the total sulphur           — quality wines psr.
dioxide content of sparkling wines shall not exceed
250 mg/1 .                                                   2. Notwithstanding item 12 of Annex II to Regula­
However, until 31 August 1976 the maximum sulphur            tion (EEC) No 816/70, quality sparkling wines, when
dioxide content shall be raised to 300 mg/1 for spar­        kept at a temperature of 20 0 C in closed containers,
kling wines produced in Community regions in which           shall have an overpressure of not less than 3-5 atmos­
levels higher than that referred to in the first subpara­    pheres .
graph are allowed on the . date of entry into force of
this Regulation .                                            However, for quality sparkling wines kept in
                                                             containers of capacity less than 25 cc, the minimum
2. The Council, acting on a proposal from the                overpressure shall be 3 atmospheres.
Commission, in accordance with the voting procedure
laid down in Article 43 (2) of the Treaty, may before
30 June 1976, extend the period referred to in the
second subparagraph of paragraph 1 while taking                                     Article 16
account of the need to reduce in progressive stages the
maximum sulphur dioxide content referred to in this          1 . Without prejudice to more restrictive provisions
subparagraph . This reduction shall be decided in            that Member States may impose on quality sparkling
accordance with the same procedure.                          wines produced within their territory, the total
3 . The implementing rules for this Article and the          sulphur dioxide content of quality sparkling wines
transitional measures for sparkling wines produced           shall not exceed 200 mg/1 .
before the date of entry into force of this Regulation
shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure            However, for a period ending on 31 August 1976 and
laid down in Article 7 of Regulation No 24.                  for quality sparkling wines produced in Community
                                                             regions in which levels higher than that referred to in
                        TITLE III
                                                             the first subparagraph are allowed on the date of entry
                                                             into force of this Regulation , the maximum sulphur
                                                             dioxide content shall be raised to 250 mg/ 1 .
  Special provisions on quality sparkling wines
                       Article 13                            2. The Council , acting on a proposal from the
                                                             Commission , in accordance with the voting procedure
The total alcoholic strength of the cuvees intended for      laid down in Article 43 ( 2) of the Treaty, may, before
the preparation of quality sparkling wines shall be not      30 June 1976, extend the period referred to in the
less than 9° .                                               second subparagraph of paragraph 1 , while taking
 ---pagebreak--- 21 . 11 . 74                      Official Journal of the European Communities                          No L 310/5
account of the need to reduce in progressive stages the      referred to under this Title and produced within their
maximum sulphur dioxide content referred to in this          territory.
subparagraph . This reduction shall be decided in
accordance with the same procedure.
                                                                                      TITLE IV
3. The implementing rules for this Article and in
particular the transitional measures for quality spar­
kling wines produced before the date of entry into
force of this Regulation shall be adopted in accor­                               Final provisions
dance with the procedure laid down in Article 7 of
Regulation No 24.
                                                                                      Article 20
                       Article 17                            1 . The analytical methods required to implement
                                                             this Regulation shall be those laid down pursuant to
1 . The duration of the process for making quality           Regulation (EEC) No 816/70 .
sparkling wines, including ageing in the production
undertaking, may not be less than nine months from           2. However, where no Community methods of
the start of fermentation designed to make the wines         analysis are laid down the analytical methods appli­
                                                             cable shall be :
effervescent.
                                                             (a) those contained in Annex A of the International
2. The duration of this fermentation process and of               Convention for the Unification of Methods of
the presence of the wine on the lees may not be less             Analysis and Appraisal of Wines of 13 October
than 60 days. However, if fermentation takes place in             1954,
containers equipped with shaking devices, the
minimum period shall be 21 days.                             (b) or, where no such methods are laid down in that
                                                                 Annex, those traditionally employed in the
                                                                 Member State concerned .
3 . Implementing rules for this Article shall be laid
down in accordance with the procedure provided for
in Article 7 of Regulation No 24.                                                     Article 21
                                                             The Member States and the Commission shall commu­
                       Article 18
                                                             nicate to each other the data required for imple­
                                                             menting this Regulation . The arrangements for
1 . Quality sparkling wines of the aromatic type             communication and dissemination of these data shall
may only be obtained from the varieties of vine listed       be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid
in the Annex, and in accordance with traditional prac­       down in Article 7 of Regulation No 24.
tice. Dosing shall be prohibited.
2. Notwithstanding Article 14, the actual alcoholic                                   Article 22
strength of quality sparkling wines of the aromatic
type shall not be less than 6° .                             Should it prove necessary to adopt transitional
                                                             measures     in order to facilitate  conversion   to the
The total alcoholic strength of quality sparkling wines      system introduced by this Regulation , particularly if
of the aromatic type shall be not less than 10° .            serious difficulties are encountered in implementing
                                                             this system by the prescribed date, such measures
3 . Notwithstanding Article 15 (2), quality sparkling        shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure
wines of the aromatic type, when kept at a tempera­          laid down in Article 7 of Regulation No 24. They
ture of 20 °C in closed recipients shall have an over­       shall apply until 31 August 1976 at the latest.
pressure of not less than 3 atmospheres.
4. Notwithstanding Article 17, the duration of the                                    Article 23
preparation process for quality sparkling wines of the
aromatic type shall not be less than one month .              1.    This Regulation shall enter into force on the
                                                             third day following its publication in the Official
                                                              Journal of the European Communities.
                       Article 19
                                                             2.     It shall be applicable as from 1 September 1975,
Producer Member States may specify any additional or         with the exception of Article 22 which shall be appli­
more stringent characteristics or conditions of produc­      cable as from the date of entry into force of this Regu­
tion and movement for the quality sparkling wines            lation .
 ---pagebreak--- No L 310/6                      Official Journal of the European Communities                         21 . 11 . 74
           This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
           States .
           Done at Brussels, 18 November 1974.
                                                                        For the Council
                                                                         The President
                                                                         Ch . BONNET
                                                     ANNEX
           List of the varieties of vine from which the quality sparkling wines of the aromatic type
                                                 may be obtained
                                Aleatico N                 Monica N
                                Clairette                  Mauzac blanc and rose
                                Gewürztraminer             Muscats (all)
                                Giro 'N                    Perle
                                Huxelrebe                  Prosecco
                                Malvasia (all)             Scheurebe