Wine Law

II. Prohibited and Permitted Acts of Advertising relating to Wine II. 1. Designations of Origin and Protected Geographical Indications According its Article 1, the main goal of Law 24/2003 is, among others things, the basic management, within the framework of the regulations of the European Union, of the vineyard and wine, regarding their promotion and advertising. We may consider what is indicated in Article 18, regarding protection, since the geographical names associated with each level cannot be used to designate other products of the wine sector, except as indicated in the Community legislation. Protection extends from production to all phases of marketing, to presentation, advertising, labelling and commercial documents. This protection also means that it is prohibited to use any false or misleading indication regarding the provenance, origin, nature or essential characteristics of the wines on the container or packaging, in advertising or in the documents referring to them. Geographical names that are protected may not be used in the designation, presentation or advertising of wines that do not meet the requirements of said level of protection, although such names are translated into other languages or preceded by expressions such as “type”, “style”, “imitation” or similar, not even when the true origin of the wine is indicated. Nor is it allowed to use expressions such as “bottled in…”, “with cellar in…” or similar. We must take into account what is indicated in Law 6/2015, of 12 May, on Designations of Origin and Protected Geographical Indications of supra-autonomous territorial scope 33 and Royal Decree 267/2017, of 17 March, by which are developed Law 6/2015 and Law 12/2013, of 2 August, of measures to improve the functioning of the food chain 34 , since, according to Article 13 of Law 6/2015, the names subject to a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) or a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) may not be used as Internet domain names in cases where the owner does not have the rights and legitimate interests over the name and uses it for the promotion or marketing of comparable products not covered by them. 33 BOE no. 114, 13 May 2015. 34 BOE no. 66, 18 March 2017.