Wine law

The laws governing the production, labelling and sale of wine are both complicated and strict. They are also illogical, contradictory, confusing, and generally misunderstood.

EU organic wine law

Current EU law contains no definition of ‘organic wine’ and does not allow the term to appear on any wine label. Legally speaking, organic wine does not exist.

more on organic wine law
  • Organic certification

    Not all grapes grown organically are certified as organic, and not all wines made from certified organic grapes display this on the label. But certification is a useful guarantee.

    more on certification
  • Organic logos and labelling

    There is an unnecessarily wide array of overlapping and misleading labels and logos available to the natural or semi-natural winemaker. Many of the most natural wines use none of them.

    more on labelling

French AOC wine law

The French AOC system is based the the idea of terroir, that wines express the place, and above all the soil, from which they come. It gives to this idea the force of law.

more on French wine law
  • AOC Classifications

    There are four main categories in the classification of French wine, although these are subdivided in a variety of ways.These are, Vin de Table, Vin de Pays, VDQS, and AOC.

    more on AOC classifications
  • Failings of the AOC system

    You don't need to be an expert to see that the current system is not working. Go into any supermarket and you can buy AOC wines from respected appellations all over France. Take them home and they will taste of the same few flavours.

    more on AOC failings

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