The wine law provisions applicable to all member states of the European Union are documented in EU regulations. The most important ones in terms of wine law are 1601/1991, 834/2007 (see also EU Organic Regulation), 1234/2007, 479/2008, 555/2008, 436/2009, 605/2009, 606/2009, 1169/2011 and 1308/2013. In addition, there are about 20 other directives and regulations that also concern wine law issues at least in part. For the layman, this is almost confusing, because amended regulations are promulgated by a separate regulation (with a new number). There is (unfortunately) no comprehensive body of EU law where you can find everything for a particular topic in one place. In addition, there are many country-specific laws and exceptions.
Wine law standard works
The standard work in Germany is the "Weinrecht" (Walhalla-Verlag, Wilhelm Schevardo and Josef Koy), which comprises 4,570 pages plus CD-ROM in the edition published in December 2019. It offers the wine law of the EU, the Federal Republic and the federal states. Another work is the online platform "Weinrecht" (Wine Law) published by the German Wine Institute (DWI) (digital successor to the "Weinrecht Kommentar" by Prof. Dr. Hans-Jörg Koch). The standard work in Austria is the "Weingesetz" (Manz-Verlag, Hannes Mraz and Hans Valentin), which comprises 816 pages in the 5th edition published in 2018. It offers a comprehensive presentation of the entire wine law including all regulations and EU provisions. Furthermore, there is also the electronic database RIS (Legal Information System), where wine law matters are included, among others.
E-Bacchus database
On the website of the European Commission there is the database "E-Bacchus - Agriculture and Rural Development". It contains all protected geographical indications (PG I) and designations of origin (PDO) of the member states (all wine-growing regions such as Chablis Chablis, Mosel or Wachau), the geographical indications and designations of origin of EU non-member states protected within the EU on the basis of bilateral trade agreements on wine between the EU and EU non-member states (e.g. trade agreements with the USA), as well as the traditional terms protected in the EU (e.g. Liebfrauenmilch or Gemischter Satz).
Further information
Almost all EU member states have applied for exemption regulations for many wine law issues. The reasons for this, apart from traditional practices, are above all climatic peculiarities. These are listed under the individual wine-growing countries (e.g. with regard to enrichment). Further information on wine law can be found primarily under Wine Law, where a list of other relevant keywords on the subject complex is included at the end.
