CELEX: 31976R1161
Language: en
Date: 1976-05-17 00:00:00
Title: Council Regulation (EEC) No 1161/76 of 17 May 1976 amending Regulation (EEC) No 817/70 laying down special provisions relating to quality wines produced in specified regions

24. 5. 76                           Official Journal of the European Communities                        No L 135/27
                                     COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC) No 1161/76
                                                       of 17 May 1976
              amending Regulation ( EEC) No 817/70 laying down special provisions relating to
                                        quality wines produced in specified regions
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                     al increase in alcoholic strength in the wine­
COMMUNITIES ,                                                   growing area concerned ;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the Euro­              Whereas, in order to preserve as far as possible the
pean Economic Community, and in particular                      specific character bestowed by its origin on each
Article 43 thereof,                                             quality wine psr and to simplify the work of the
                                                                inspection agencies, such wine may, except in certain
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ,             cases to be determined, be sweetened only within
                                                                the specified region in question and solely by means
Having regard to the opinion of the European                    of products originating in the same region in accor­
 Parliament (*),                                                dance with rules to be laid down within certain
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                limits by the Member States ;
 Social Committee (2),
                                                                Whereas , in order to ensure uniform application
Whereas Council Regulation ( EEC) No 817/70 of                  of the provisions relating to quality wines psr,
28 April 1970 laying down special provisions relating           provision should be made for the possibility of
to quality wines produced in specified regions (3),             establishing methods of analysis to deal with specific
as last amended by Regulation ( EEC) No 2894/                   cases ;
74 (4), should be amended in the light of experience
gained on the market in quality wines produced in               Whereas , in order to make Article 12 (3) of Regula­
specified regions ;                                             tion ( EEC) No 817/70 as clear as possible, the phrase ,
                                                                ' without prejudice to the provisions of Article 30 (2)
Whereas the natural alcoholic strength of grapes at             and (3) of Regulation ( EEC) No 816/70 ' should be
the time of harvest is a factor in assessing their              deleted ; whereas , however, in order to enable the
degree of ripeness ; whereas it appears necessary to            Member States to comply gradually with the prin­
fix the minimum natural alcoholic strength in                   ciple laid down in that provision, they should be
quality wines psr in the various wine-growing                   permitted in certain exceptional cases to depart from
regions at a level such as to ensure, even in poor              that principle during a transitional period of five
years, that the grapes used in their manufacture had            years ;
reached a satisfactory degree of ripeness ; whereas
the natural alcoholic strength of quality wines psr             Whereas certain mistakes concerning Article 9 ( 1 )
should therefore be increased by 0*5° in each wine­             and the German text of Article 11 ( 1 ) of Regulation
growing zone ;                                                  ( EEC) No 817/70 should be corrected,
Whereas it may prove necessary, in order to preserve
the quality of quality wines psr, to permit the increase
in alcoholic strength provided for in exceptional cir­          HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
cumstances in Article 18 (2) of Council Regulation
( EEC) No 816/70 laying down additional provisions
for the common organization of the market in
wine (6), as last amended by Regulation (EEC)                                          Article 1
No 1160/76 (6), in respect only of table wines and
not of quality wines psr ; whereas table wines should
therefore be dissociated from quality wines psr as              Article 6 of Regulation ( EEC) No 817/70 shall be
regards the possibility of authorizing such exception­          replaced by the following :
 x) OJ No C 179, 6, 8 . 1975, p. 36.                                ' Article 6
 2) OJ No C 108 , 15 . 5. 1975, p . 65.
 8) OJ No L 99, 5 . 5. 1970, p. 20.
 4) OJ No L 310, 21 . 11 . 1974, p. 7.                              1.   Each Member State shall fix a minimum
 5) OJ No L 99, 5. 5 . 1970, p. 1 .                                 natural alcoholic strength for each of the quality
(®) See page 1 of this Official Journal.                            wines psr obtained in its territory. When this
 ---pagebreak--- No L 135/28                        Official Journal of the European Communities                          24. 5 . 76
   natural alcoholic strength is being determined                The increase provided for in this paragraph may
   account shall be taken in particular of the alco­             be effected only according to the methods and
   holic strengths which have been recorded over                 conditions mentioned in Article 19 of Regula­
   the 10 preceding years. Only satisfactory har­                tion ( EEC) No 816/70 excluding the second
   vests from the most representative soils of the               subparagraph of paragraph 3 and paragraph 6
   specified region shall be considered.                         thereof.
                                                                 However, until 30 June 1979, sucrose may be
   2.    Subject to any derogation granted in accor­             added in aqueous solution in wine-growing
   dance with the procedure laid down in Article 7               zone A, provided that the volume of the product
   of Regulation No 24, the alcoholic strengths                  to which the solution is added is not thereby
   provided for in paragraph 1 may not be less than              increased by more than 10 % .
   the following :
                                                                 3 . Article 5 of Regulation ( EEC) No 2893 /74
   — 6*5 in zone A,
                                                                 shall apply as regards the enrichment of cuvees
   — 7*5° in zone B,                                             intended for the preparation of quality sparkling
                                                                 wines psr.
   — 8*5° in zone C la ,
   — 9°       in zone C lb,                                      4. The total alcoholic strength of quality wines
                                                                 psr shall not be less than 9°. However, for
   — 9'5° in zone C II,                                          certain white quality wines psr that have been
                                                                 subject to no enrichment the minimum total
   — 10° in zone C III .
                                                                 alcoholic strength shall be 8*5° .
   The zones referred to above are those laid down               The actual alcoholic strength of quality spark­
   in Annex III to Regulation ( EEC) No 816/70.'                 ling wines psr, including the alcohol contained
                                                                 in any dose added, shall be not less than 10°.
                                                                 However, for quality sparkling wines psr of the
                         Article 2                               aromatic type, the minimum actual strength
                                                                 shall be 6° .
Article 7 of Regulation ( EEC) No 817/70 shall be                5 . The total alcoholic strength of cuvees inten­
replaced by the following :                                      ded for the preparation of quality sparkling
                                                                 wines psr shall be not less than 9*5° in wine­
    ' Article 7                                                  growing zone C III and 9° in the other wine­
                                                                 growing zones.
    1 . The specific wine-making and preparation                 However, cuvees intended for the preparation
    methods used for obtaining quality wines psr                 of certain quality sparkling wines psr whose
    and quality sparkling wines psr shall be defined             designation refers to the variety of vine may
    for each of those wines by each producer Member               have a total alcoholic strength below that stipu­
    State concerned .                                            lated in the preceding subparagraph in respect
                                                                  of the wine-growing zone concerned.
    2.   Where climatic conditions in one of the wine­
                                                                  6. A list of the quality wines psr referred to in
    growing zones referred to in Article 6 have ren­              the second sentence of the first subparagraph
    dered it necessary, the Member States concerned               of paragraph 4 shall be drawn up according to
    may authorize an increase in the actual or poten­             the procedure provided for in Article 7 of Regu­
    tial natural alcoholic strength of fresh grapes ,             lation No 24.
    grape must, grape must in fermentation, new
    wine still in fermentation and wine suitable for              A list of the quality sparkling wines psr referred
    yielding quality wine psr.                                    to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 5
                                                                  and of the minimum total alcoholic strength
    This increase may not exceed the limits laid down             of their respective cuvees shall be drawn up
    in Article 18 ( 1) of Regulation ( EEC) No 816/70.            according to the same procedure.'
    In years when climatic conditions have been
    exceptionally unfavourable, the increase in alco­                                Article 3
    holic strength provided for in the first subpara­
    graph may, in accordance with the procedure               Article 8 of Regulation ( EEC) No 817/70 shall be
    laid down in Article 7 of Regulation No 24,               replaced by the following :
    attain the limits laid down in Article 18 (2) of
    Regulation ( EEC) No 816/70. Such authori­
                                                                  ' Article 8
    zation shall not prejudice the possibility of a
    similar authorization for table wines as provided             1.   Conditions and limits for the acidification
    for in that Article .                                         and deacidification of fresh grapes, grape must,
 ---pagebreak---  24 . 5 . 76                          Official Journal of the European Communities                        No L 135/29
     grape must in fermentation and new wine still                  ' Article 11
     in fermentation and the procedure for granting
     derogations shall be those laid down in Article 20
                                                                    1 . Producers shall be obliged to submit wines
      of Regulation ( EEC) No 816/70.
                                                                    which are likely to be designated "quality wine
      Article 5 of Regulation ( EEC) No 2893/74 shall               psr" to an analytical test and to an organoleptic
                                                                    test :
      apply as regards the acidification and deacidifi­
     cation of cuvees intended for the preparation of
                                                                    (a) The analytical test shall at least include an
      quality sparkling wines psr.                                       assessment of the characteristic elements of
                                                                         the quality wine psr in question, as listed in
     2. The sweetening of a quality wine psr may                         the Annex to this Regulation.
      be authorized by a Member State only if it is
      carried out :                                                      The upper and lower limits for those elements
                                                                         shall be laid down by the producer Member
     — in compliance with the conditions and limits                      State in respect of each of the quality wines
          stipulated in Article 21 of Regulation (EEC)                   psr .
          No 816/70,
     — within the specified region in which the wine                ( b) The organoleptic test shall concern colour,
          was produced, or within a region bordering                     clarity, smell and taste.
          directly on it, except in certain cases to be
          determined,                                               2. Until appropriate provisions relating to their
                                                                    systematic and general application are adopted
     — using grape must or concentrated grape must
                                                                    by the Council, acting in accordance with the
          originating in the same specified region as
          the wine in question, provided that this
                                                                    voting procedure provided for in Article 43 (2)
                                                                    of the Treaty on a proposal from the Commis­
          concentrated grape must has been notified in
                                                                    sion, the tests provided for in paragraph 1 may
          accordance with the third subparagraph of                 be carried out on samples taken by the competent
          Article 22 ( 1 ) of Regulation ( EEC) No 816/70.
                                                                    agency designated by each of the Member States .
     The regions bordering directly on the specified
     region and the exceptions referred to in the                  3 . Where this Regulation requires for its imple­
     preceding paragraph shall be determined in                     mentation the use of methods of analysis other
     accordance with the procedure laid down in                    than those referred to in Article 39 of Regulation
      Article 7 of Regulation No 24.'                               ( EEC) No 816/70, such methods shall be adopted
                                                                   in accordance with the procedure laid down
                                                                   in Article 7 of Regulation No 24.
                            Article 4
                                                                   4. Detailed rules for the application of para­
                                                                   graph 1 , in particular for the use made of wines
Article 9 of Regulation ( EEC) No 817/70 shall be                   which do not satisfy the requirements of the tests
replaced by the following :                                        in question or the conditions governing such use,
                                                                   shall be adopted in accordance with the pro­
                                                                   cedure laid down in Article 7 of Regulation
     ' Article 9                                                    No 24.'
     Each of the enrichment, acidification and deacid­
     ification   methods referred to in         Articles 7                              Article 6
     and 8 ( 1 ) shall be authorized only if carried out
     under the conditions laid down in Article 22
     of Regulation ( EEC) No 816/70.                            Article 12 of Regulation (EEC) No 817/70 shall be
                                                                replaced by the following :
     Subject to the provisions of Article 5 (2), such
     operations may be carried out only in the speci­
     fied region where the fresh grapes used have                  ' Article 12
     been harvested.'
                                                                    1 . The Community expression "quality wine
                                                                   psr" or any specific expression traditionally
                            Article 5                              used in Member States to designate particular
                                                                   wines, may be used only for wines which comply
Article 11 of Regulation ( EEC) No 817/70 shall be                 with the provisions of this Regulation and with
replaced by the following :                                        those adopted in application thereof.
 ---pagebreak--- No L 135/30                         Official Journal of the European Communities                            24. 5 . 76
  2. Without prejudice to any additional expres­                 subject to conditions to be determined of the
  sions which may be allowed by national laws ,                  names of certain specified regions to describe
  and subject to national provisions on the wines                table wines for which such names are tradition­
  in question being observed, the specific expres­               ally used.
  sions traditionally used which are referred to
  in paragraph 1 shall be the following :                        4.    A quality wine psr shall be sold under the
                                                                 name of the specified region granted it by the
  (a) Germany :                                                  producer Member State.
         — until 19 July 1971 , descriptions stating             No wine which satisfies the provisions of this
             the origin of the wines , accompanied by            Regulation and those adopted in application
             the expression " Naturwein ", " Originalab­         thereof may be sold without the expression
             fullung ", " Spatlese", " Auslese", " Beere­        " quality wine psr ", or without one of the speci­
             nauslese" or "Trockenbeerenauslese ",               fic expressions traditionally used which are
         — from 20 July 1971 , an indication of the              referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 . However,
             origin of the wine , accompanied by the             a quality sparkling wine psr may not be sold
             expression " Qualitatswein ", or by the             without being marked " quality sparkling wine
             expression " Qualitatswein mit Pradikat",           psr" or without a traditionally equivalent speci­
             together with one of the following expres­          fic term as referred to in paragraph 2a .
             sions " Kabinett", " Spatlese", " Auslese",         The term " quality wine psr " or " quality spark­
             " Berenauslese "   or   "Trockenbeerenaus­
                                                                 ling wine psr", whichever is appropriate, together
             lese" ;                                             with the name of the specified region concerned
                                                                 must appear on the accompanying document
  ( b ) France :                                                 referred to in Article 29 ( 1 ) of Regulation ( EEC)
         " Appelation d'origine contrôlée", " Appel­             No 816/70.
         lation contrôlée", " Champagne" and " Vin
         délimité de qualité supérieure";                        5 . The downgrading of a quality wine psr may
                                                                 be effected at the production stage under condi­
   ( c) Italy :                                                  tions laid down by national rules ; it may be
                                                                 effected at the marketing stage only where the
         " Denominazione di origine controllata " and            properties of the quality wine psr in question
         " Denominazione di origine controllata e
                                                                 have deteriorated or changes as a result of a
         garantita ";
                                                                 change noted during maturing, storage or
   (d) Luxembourg :                                              transport.
         " Marque nationale du vin luxembourgeois ."             6. Detailed rules for the application of this
                                                                  Article, in particular for the use given to down­
  2a . The Community term " quality sparkling                    graded quality wines psr and the conditions
  wines , psr" or any traditionally equivalent                   governing such use , shall be adopted in accor­
  specific term may be used only for quality                     dance with the procedure laid down in Article 7
  sparkling wines psr.                                           of Regulation No 24.'
   A quality sparkling wine psr which has under­
  gone the process rendering it effervescent out­
  side a specified region may only bear the name                                  Article 7
  of that region :
                                                              Article 15 of Regulation ( EEC) No 817/70 shall be
  — if the conditions referred to in the third sub­
                                                              replaced by the following :
        paragraph of Article 5 (2) are fulfilled, and
  — if such a designation is allowed under the
        laws of the Member State in whose territory               ' Article 15
        the grapes were harvested.
                                                                  In addition to the provisions laid down in this
  3 . The name of a specified region may be used                  Regulation , producer Member States may,
  to describe a wine only if it is a quality wine                taking into account fair and traditional practices ,
   psr .                                                         lay down any additional or more stringent
                                                                 characteristics or conditions of production and
  However, the Council, acting in accordance                      movement for the quality wines produced in
  with the voting procedure laid down in Article 43              specified regions within their territory.
   (2) of the Treaty on a proposal from the Com­
   mission, may authorize, for a transitional pe­                They may, in particular, impose limits on the
   riod which expires on 31 August 1981 , the use                 maximum residual sugar content of a quality
 ---pagebreak--- 24 . 5 . 76                      Official Journal of the European Communities                       No L 135/31
    wine psr, especially on the ratio between the                                   Article 9
    actual alcoholic strength and the residual
    sugar . '                                                This Regulation shall enter into force on the third
                       Article 8                             day following its publication in the Official Journal
                                                             of the European Communities.
Article 17 of Regulation ( EEC) No 817/70 is hereby
repealed.                                                    This Regulation shall apply from 1 September 1976 .
              This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
              States .
              Done at Brussels, 17 May 1976.
                                                                                 For the Council
                                                                                  The President
                                                                                  J. HAMILIUS