CELEX: 31970R0817
Language: en
Date: 1970-04-28 00:00:00
Title: Regulation (EEC) No 817/70 of the Council of 28 April 1970 laying down special provisions relating to quality wines produced in specified regions

252                                  Official Journal of the European Communities
No L 99/20                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                 5.5.70
                              REGULATION (EEC) No 817/70 OF THE COUNCIL
                                                    of 28 April 1970
                laying down special provisions relating to quality wines produced in specified regions
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                        essential for the nature and scope of those factors to
                                                                be defined;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the
European Economic Community, and in particular                  Whereas, even though it is necessary to take into
Article 43 thereof;                                             account traditional conditions of production, a
                                                                common attempt to harmonise quality requirements
                                                                must nevertheless be made;
Having regard to Regulation No 241 on the
progressive establishment of a common organisation
of the market in wine, and in particular Article 4              Whereas the elements which enable each of the
thereof;                                                        quality wines produced in specified regions to be
                                                                recognised must be listed and defined;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission;
                                                                Whereas until Community methods for testing those
                                                                elements are adopted, reference should be made,
Having regard to the Opinion of the European
                                                                when this Regulation enters into force, to the
Parliament;
                                                                methods of analysis laid down in Annex A to the
                                                                International   Convention     for the Unification    of
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 816/702 of 28               Methods for the Analysis and Appraisal of Wines of
April 1970 laying down additional provisions for the            13 October 1954; whereas, furthermore, where that
common organisation of the market in wine sets up a             Annex does not provide for methods of testing these
system which, in so far as its scope is not restricted to       elements, the methods traditionally used in each of
other products, applies also to quality wines                   the Member States must remain applicable;
produced in specified regions; whereas that system
embraces in particular certain common rules on
production ;                                                    Whereas, in order to protect producers from unfair
                                                                competition and consumers from error and fraud, the
                                                                expression 'quality wine produced in a specified
Whereas the development of a policy of encouraging              region' must be reserved for wines which comply
quality production in agriculture and especially in             with Community provisions, while not excluding the
wine growing is bound to contribute to the                      use of traditional specific designations;
improvement of conditions on the market and, as a
result, to an increase in outlets ; whereas the adoption
of additional common rules in line with Regulation              HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
(EEC) No 816/70 which concern the production and
control of quality wines produced in specified regions
falls within the framework of this policy and can                                       Article 1
contribute towards the attainment of these objectives;
                                                                This Regulation lays down special provisions for
Whereas Article 4 (2) of Regulation No 24 lists some            quality wines produced in specified regions.
of the factors which must be taken into account
when adopting Community provisions; whereas it is               ' Quality wines produced in specified regions'
                                                                (hereinafter called 'quality wines p.s.r.') means wines
                                                                which satisfy the provisions of this Regulation, and
1 OJ No 30, 20.4.1962, p. 989/62.                               those adopted in application thereof, and are defined
2 OJ No L 99, 5.5.1970, p. 1.                                   by national rules.
 ---pagebreak---                                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                   253
                         Article 2                             vine varieties appearing in the list provided for in
                                                               paragraph 1 . "Where this provision is not observed,
1.     'Specified region' means a wine-growing area or         none of the wines obtained from grapes harvested
combination of wine growing areas which produces               within the vineyard or vineyard plot shall be entitled
wine possessing special quality characteristics and            to the designation 'quality wine p.s.r.'
whose name is used to designate those of its wines
which are defined in Article 1 .
                                                                                       Article 4
2. Each specified region shall be precisely
demarcated so far as possible on the basis of the              Each Member State concerned shall lay down the
individual vineyard or vineyard plot. Such                     provisions regarding wine growing . methods which
demarcation shall be effected by each of the Member            are required in order to ensure the best possible
States concerned and shall take into account the               quality for quality wines p.s.r.
factors which contribute towards the quality of the
wines produced in those regions, such as the nature            Irrigation within a wine growing zone may be carried
of the soil and subsoil, the climate and the situation         out only to the extent that the Member State
of the individual vineyard or vineyard plot.                   concerned authorises it. Such authorisation may be
                                                               granted only where ecological conditions justify it.
                         Article 3
                                                                                       Article 5
1 . Each Member State shall draw up a list of vine
varieties suitable for producing each of the quality           1 . (a) Quality wines p.s.r. may be obtained only
wines p.s.r. produced in its territory. These vine                     from grapes of vine varieties which have been
varieties may be only of the species vitis vinifera and                harvested within the specified region and
must belong to the recommended or authorised                           which appear in the list provided for in Article
categories referred to in Article 16 of Regulation                     3 ( 1 ).
(EEC) No 816/70.
                                                                       This provision shall not prevent quality wines
                                                                       p.s.r. from being obtained under the
2. The provisions of paragraph 1 may be revised                        conditions specified in Article 3 (3 ) or
later by the Council, acting in accordance with the                    produced according to traditional practices.
voting procedure provided for in Article 43 (2) of the
Treaty on a proposal from the Commission.                          (b) Any natural or legal person who has both
                                                                       grapes or grape musts which satisfy the
3 . Vine varieties which do not appear on the list                     conditions laid down for obtaining quality
referred to in paragraph 1 shall be removed from the                   wines p.s.r. and other grapes or grape musts at
vineyards or vineyard plots intended for the                           his disposal shall ensure a separate wine­
production of quality wines p.s.r.                                     making process for the former; otherwise, the
                                                                       wine obtained may not be considered as
However, by way of derogation from the preceding                       quality wine p.s.r.
paragraph, the presence of vine varieties which do
not appear on the list may be permitted by Member              2. The processing of the grapes referred to in
States for a period of three years from :                      paragraph 1 ( a) into must and from must into wine ,
— the entry into force of this Regulation in respect           shall be carried out within the specified region where
    of specified regions for which demarcation has             the grapes were harvested.
     already taken effect on that date;
                                                               However, subject to adequate provisions as regards
— the date on         which the demarcation of the             control , such processing may take place outside that
    specified region in question comes into effect             region, where the rules of the producer Member State
    where the said demarcation has ,not been made by           permit it.
    the time this Regulation enters into force;
                                                               3 . Detailed rules for the application of this Article
provided that such vine varieties belong to the species        shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure
vitis vinifera and that they do not represent more             laid down in Article 7 of Regulation No 24.
than 20% of the vine varieties on the vineyard or
vineyard plot.                                                 They shall cover in particular:
4.     By the end of the period laid down in paragraph         — provisions      by   which     Member    States  may
3 , any vineyard or vineyard plot intended for the                  authorise derogations from the rules which lay
production of quality wines p.s.r. may consist only of              down that the processing of grapes into must and
 ---pagebreak--- 254                                  Official Journal of the European Communities
    of must into wine should take place within the              3 . No wine with a total alcoholic strength of less
    specified region;                                           than 9° may be considered a quality wine p.s.r.
— the list of quality wines p.s.r. which may be
    produced according to the traditional practices                                     Article 8
    referred to in paragraph 1 .
                                                                1.    Conditions and limits for the acidification and
                          Article 6
                                                                deacidification of fresh grapes, grape must, grape
                                                                must    in  fermentation     and   new  wine . still in
                                                                fermentation and the procedure for granting
1.    Each Member State shall fix a minimum natural             derogations are those laid down in Article 20 of
alcoholic strength for each of the quality wines p.s.r.         Regulation (EEC) No 816/70.
obtained in its territory. When this natural alcoholic
strength is being determined account shall be taken in
particular of the alcoholic strengths which have been           2.    Conditions and limits for sweetening quality
recorded over the ten preceding years. Only                     wines p.s.r. are those laid down in Article 21 of
satisfactory harvests from the most representative              Regulation (EEC) No 816/70.
soils of the specified region shall be considered.
                                                                                        Article 9
2 . Except for derogations to be decided ' in
accordance with the procedure provided for in                   None of the operations referred to in Article 7 and 8
Article 7 of Regulation No 24, the alcoholic strengths          shall be authorised unless they are carried out under
referred to in paragraph 1 may not be less than :               the conditions laid down in Article 22 of Regulation
                    6      in zone A,                           (EEC) No 816/70.
                    7°     in zone B,                           Subject to the provisions of Article 5 (2), such
                    &°     in zone C I,                         operations may be carried out only in the specified
                    9°     in zone C II,                        regions where the fresh grapes used have been
                                                                harvested.
                    9*5°   in zone C III . .
The zones referred to above are those defined in
                                                                                        Article 10
Annex III to Regulation (EEC) No 816/70.
                                                                1.    A yield per hectare expressed in quantities of
                          Article 7                             grapes, must or wine shall be fixed for each of the
                                                                quality wines p.s.r. by the Member State concerned.
1 . The specific wine-making methods used for                   When this yield is being fixed, particular account
obtaining quality wines p.s.r. shall be defined for             shall be taken of the yields obtained over the ten
each of those wines by each Member State
concerned.
                                                                preceding years. Only satisfactory harvests from the
                                                                most representative soils of the specified region shall
                                                                be considered.
2.    Where, climatic      conditions    in   one  of the
wine-growing zones referred to in Article 6 have                This yield may be altered by the Member State
rendered it necessary, the Member States concerned              concerned.
may authorise an     increase in the actual or potential
natural alcoholic     strength of fresh grapes, grape           2. Except where derogations are provided by the
must, grape must     in fermentation, new wine still in         rules in force in the Member States, the use of the
fermentation and     wine suitable for yielding quality         claimed designation shall be prohibited for the entire
wine p.s.r.                                                     harvest if the yield referred to in paragraph 1 is
                                                                exceeded.
This increase may not exceed the limits laid down in
Article 18 of Regulation (EEC) No 816/70 and may
be made only according to the methods and                                               Article 11
conditions    mentioned       in  Article    19   of  that
Regulation, excluding paragraph 6.                              1.    Producers shall be obliged to submit wines
                                                                which are likely to be designated 'quality wine p.s.r.'
However, the addition of sucrose in water to increase           to an analytical test and to an organoleptic test.
the natural alcoholic strength may not be made after
30 June 1979 and may not increase by more than                  (a) The analytical test shall at least include an
10% the volume of the product to be possessed.                       assessment of the characteristic elements of the
 ---pagebreak---                                       Official Journal of the European Communities                                   255
       quality wine p.s.r. in question, as listed in the                   expression 'Naturwein', 'Originalabfiillung',
       Annex to this Regulation.                                           'Spatlese', 'Auslese', 'Beerenauslese' or
                                                                           'Trockenbeerenauslese' ;
       The upper and lower limits for those elements
       shall be laid down by the producer Member State                 — however, from 20 July 1971 , the traditional
       in respect of each of the quality wines p.s.r.;                     descriptions mentioned above c shall be
                                                                           replaced by an indication of the origin of the
 (b ) The organoleptic test shall concern colour,                          wine, accompanied by the expression
       clarity, smell and taste.                                           ' Qualitatswein', or by the expression
                                                                           ' Qualitatswein mit Pradikat', together with
2.      Until appropriate provisions relating to their                     one of the following expressions 'Kabinett',
systematic and general application are adopted by the                      'Spatlese', 'Auslese', 'Beerenauslese' or
Council, acting in accordance with the voting                              ' Trockenbeerenauslese';
procedure provided for in Article 43 (2) of the Treaty
on a proposal from the Commission, the tests                     ( b ) France :
provided for in paragraph 1 may be carried out on
samples taken by the competent agency designated by                    'Appellation d'origine contrôlée', 'Appellation
each of the Member States .                                            contrôlée', 'Champagne' and 'Vin délimité de
                                                                       qualité supérieure';
3 . Until such time as Community methods are
adopted :                                                        (c) Italy :
— the methods of analysis laid down in Annex A to                      'Denominazione di origine controllata' and
      the International Convention for the Unification                 'Denominazione di origine controllata e
      of Methods for the Analysis and Appraisal of                     garantita';
      Wines of 13 October 1954 shall be used for
      testing the elements referred to in paragraph 1            (d) Luxembourg:                .
      and for all other cases made necessary by this
      Regulation;                                                      'Marque nationale du vin luxembourgeois'.
— where that Annex does not provide a method for
      testing certain of the elements referred to in             3.      Without prejudice to the provisions of Article
      paragraph 1 , the methods traditionally used in            30 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 816/70, the name of a
      each    of   the   Member     States  shall   remain       specified region may be used to describe a wine only
      applicable.                                                if it is a quality wine p.s.r.
4. Detailed rules for the "application of paragraph              4. A quality wine p.s.r. shall be sold under the
1 , in particular for the use made of wines which do             name of the specified region granted it by the
not satisfy the requirements of the tests in question or         producer Member State.
the conditions governing such use, shall be adopted
in accordance with the procedure laid down in                    No wine which satisfies the provisions of this
Article 7 of Regulation No 24.                                   Regulation and those adopted in application thereof
                                                                 may be sold without the expression 'quality wine
                          Article 12                             p.s.r.', or without one of the specific expressions
                                                                 traditionally used which are referred to in paragraphs
                                                                 1 and 2 .
1.      The Community expression 'quality wine p.s.r.',
or any specific expression traditionally used in
Member States to designate particular wines, may be              It shall be compulsory for the expression 'quality
                                                                 wine p.s.r.' to appear on the accompanying document
used only for wines which comply with the                        referred to in Article 29 ( 1 ) of Regulation (EEC) No
provisions of this Regulation and with those adopted             816/70 .
in application thereof.
2. Without prejudice to any additional expressions               5 . The downgrading of a quality wine p.s.r. may
which may be allowed by national laws, and subject               be effected at the production stage under conditions
to national provisions on the wines in question being            laid down by national rules ; it may be effected at the
observed, the specific expressions traditionally used            marketing stage only where the properties of the
which are referred to in paragraph 1 shall be the                quality wine p.s.r. in question have deteriorated as a
following:                                                       result of a change noted during maturing, storage or
                                                                 transport.
 ( a) Germany :
       — until 19 July 1971 , descriptions stating the           6. Detailed rules for the application of this Article,
           origin of the wines, accompanied by the               in particular for the use given to downgraded quality
 ---pagebreak--- 256                                Official Journal of the European Communities
wines p.s.r. and the conditions governing such use,           additional or more stringent characteristics or
shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure             conditions of production and movement for the
laid down in Article 7 of Regulation No 24.                   quality wines produced in specified regions within
                                                              their territory.
           c           Article 13
                                                                                     Article 16
1.    Each Member State shall be responsible for the          Member       States  and     the  Commission      shall
control and protection of the quality wines p.s.r.            communicate to each other the information necessary
marketed in accordance with this Regulation.                  for implementing this Regulation. Rules for the
                                                              communication and distribution of such information
2. Detailed rules for the application of this Article         shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure
shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure             laid down in Article 7 of Regulation No 24.
laid down in Article 7 of Regulation No 24.
                                                                                     Article 17
                       Article 14
                                                              Should transitional measures be necessary to facilitate
1 . The quantities of quality wines p.s.r. and of             the transition to the system established by this
grapes, musts and wines suitable for yielding quality         Regulation, in particular if the introduction of that
wines p.s.r. shall be declared separately in the harvest      system on the date provided would give rise to
and stock declarations provided for in pursuance of           substantial difficulties, such measures shall be
Article 2 of Regulation No 24.                                adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down
                                                              in . Article 7 of Regulation No 24. They shall be
2. Detailed rules for the application of this Article         applicable until 31 August 1971 at the latest.
shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure
laid down in Article 7 of Regulation No 24.
                                                                                     Article 18
                       Article 15                             This Regulation shall enter into force on the third
                                                              day following its publication in the Official Journal
In addition to the provisions laid down in this               of the European Communities.
Regulation, producer Member States may, taking into
account fair and traditional practices, define any            It shall apply from 1 June 1970.
              This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
              States .
              Done at Brussels, 28 April. 1970..
                                                                                   For the Council
                                                                                     The President
                                                                                      Ch. HÉGER
 ---pagebreak---                          Official Journal of the European Communities                          257
                                             ANNEX
List of elements which enable the quality wines produced in specified regions to be recognised
                          and may be selected for testing under Article 11
A. Organoleptic test:
     1 . Colour
     2 . Clarity and deposit
     3 . Smell and taste
B. Tests on wine behaviour :
     4. Behaviour in air
     5 . Behaviour in cold
C. Microbiological test:
     6. Behaviour in incubator
     7. Appearance of wine and of deposit
D. Physical and chemical analysis :
     8 . Density
     9. Degree of alcohol
    10. Total dry extract (obtained by densimetry)
    11 . Reducing sugars
    12 . Sucrose
    13 . Ash
    14. Alkalinity of ash
    15. Total acidity
    16. Volatile acidity
    17. Fixed acidity
    18 . pH
    19. Free sulphur dioxide
    20. Total sulphur dioxide
 E. Additional analysis :
    21 . Carbon dioxide (semi-sparkling and sparkling wines, atm at 20 °C)