Quality Wines Produced in Specified Regions - Rules and Regulations

Rules and Regulations

Quality wines legislation does not specify exactly which wines should be subect to its rules and member states are permitted to regulate their own production in order to preserve traditional practices. In fact the very concept of QWpsr differs between northern and southern Europe; countries like Germany are regulated by quality first and little importance is given to geographical location, while other growers are regulated by geographical considerations first, as is the case with the Spanish Denominación de Origen regulations. As a consequence, where German wines are automatically classified as QWpsr, French, Italian and Spanish wines only attain that status after being officially approved.

The current QWpsr regulations, last modified in 2000, stipulate the following areas in which member states must make specific provisions:

• lists of suitable grape varieties
• details of required wine-growing methods
• the regulation of enrichment and sweetening practices
• stipulation of a minimum natural alcoholic strength
• maximum yield by hectare
• analysis of wines and assessment of organoleptic characteristics
• ensuring that grape production, wine making and development are carried out within the specified region
• the circumstances under which quality wine may be downgraded to table wine status.