Wine Law

284 WINE LAW adopted comparative advertisement many times. Several marketing communications deal with tasting different wines and review them, and practices such as wine tasting, competitions and the use of influencers are, in the end, a comparison between wines. This type of advertisement must follow strict rules in order to secure the loyalty of the media, and several countries have different rules in force to allow comparison ads 29 . The ICC Code recommends that “marketing communications containing comparisons should be so designed that the comparison is not likely to mislead, and should comply with the principles of fair competition. Points of comparison should be based on facts which can be substantiated and should not be unfairly selected.” (art. 11). Indeed, the purposed or implemented comparisons shall be capable of being supported by evidence, and the products must be interchangeable in the way that must be compared like-for-like. Additionally, a European directive 30 imposes that any comparison aimed at promoting goods bearing a Protected Designation of Origin must refer exclusively to other goods bearing the same designation. We note that general rules propose principles that are not being observed concerning wine comparison. It is possible to compare, in a bottle of wine, among others, the alcohol volume, the vitis vinefera grapes, the assemblage or the harvest, but, as a matter of fact, these characteristics are not compared when tasting two or more wines. In tasting marketing practices (fairs, competitions), comparisons are usually made based on the aroma and fruity flavours, aftertastes, acidity, tannin levels or the body of the wine (whether it is light, medium or full- bodied). Understandably, those characteristics are subjective – how long will a flavour persist in one’s mouth? –, but, in fact, in the wine sector, as an exception, those comparisons are usual and commonly acceptable. Another interesting point is related to consumer law. Advertisements must be accurate as not to deceive the consumers. For instance, by seeing the label “Malbec”, consumers will likely assume that wine is 100% Malbec, when, in reality, it is not. The right to mention a grape variety is usually allowed once the wine has at least 85% of such grape, and so it is not be perceived as misleading consumers. It is also not perceived as misleading the consumers the fact of aggregate, in a minor part, grape must originate from a region outside the Indication of Origin. Although it does not currently occur in the most knowledgeable and reputable Geographical Indications, it can be found in the specifications of the 29 Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advertising, accessed on 30 April 2020. 30 Directive 2006/114/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 concerning misleading and comparative advertising, article 4(e).