Wine Law

Communicating about wine is not illegal and, fortunately, this statement is legally correct. Indeed, the wine list of a restaurant is a kind of advertisement because it effectively constitutes a "form of communication made within the framework of a commercial, industrial or craft activity with the aim of promoting the supply of goods or services” 37 . A wine list complies with the requirements set out by the Public Health Code, the information simply providing the name of the wine, the year of the harvest, the vineyard or the wine merchant selling the wine to the consumer plus its price tab. However, this is viewed as a set of individual advertisements within a single document that is presented to the public. Nevertheless, the restaurateur is licensed to sell wines and spirits. This is not the case for an advertisement that is displayed outside the restaurant. Clarifying the prohibition on communicating about the beverage involves determining what should be understood by “advertising”. Indeed, the legislator did not define what exactly is understood by communication or advertising for wine. In 2012, the Court of Cassation 38 ruled that collective advertising on a wine-growing region, in this case the Bordeaux region, must necessarily be considered as advertising because the communication was a commercial transaction between the wine growers and the advertising company. Consequently, this case law adopted an extensive conception of communication on drinking, including collective advertising within its scope since the communication was not limited to providing purely objective statements. Law n ° 2016-41 of 26 January 2016 on the modernisation of the health system inserted an article L.3323-3-1 in the Public Health Code 39 . Consequently, the line drawn between authorising or prohibiting communication about wine lies where the stark objectivity constituted by the technical characteristics of the wine ends, and the subjective assessment of the advertising message begins. As a result, the 37 PE and Cons. EU, dir. n ° 2006/114 / CE, 12 December 2006 in the matter of misleading and comparative advertising, art. 2 a. A similar definition has been adopted for commercial communication by the directive on electronic commerce: PE and Cons. EU, dir. n ° 2000/31 / CE, 8 June 2000, art. 2 F 38 Cass. 1st civ., 23 Feb. 2012, n ° 10-17.887, JCP G 2012, 542, note Ch. Lebel, Rev. dr. rural 2012, com. 66 note F. Barthe 39 M.Jelila, Supervision of the advertising of alcoholic beverages, The evolution of the Evin law between hygienism and defense of the wine heritage, Rev. Dr. rural 2017, File 10.