Wine Law

human factor associated with an appellation of origin”. Consequently, the rules governing the collective advertising of wine are less strict than those imposed for a wine which promotion is carried out by the winegrower or the wine merchant who is selling it to the consumer. Subsequently, Law n ° 2016-41 of 26 January 2016 on the modernisation of the health system inserted article L.3323-3-1 in the Public Health Code 46 , specifying the concept of advertising and consequently the scope of application of the restrictive conditions of communication in the wine industry. However, the legislator gave a negative definition by indicating that the following "are not considered as an advertisement [...] the contents, images, representations, descriptions, comments or references relating to a region of production, to a toponymy, to a reference or a geographical indication, to a region, to a route, to a production area, to the expertise, to the history or to the cultural, gastronomic or environmental heritage relating to an alcoholic beverage with an identification of the quality or origin…” 47 . This text establishes a Prévert-style list of media and content that sidesteps the application of the Evin law. An initial decision 48 by the trial judges clarified that the notion of “a press article for informational purposes” is assessed fairly strictly in case law. In this instance, the Court of Appeal upheld the decision without specifying what justifies the qualification adopted, which leaves little hope for the application of this new legal provision. The fight against alcohol addiction is undoubtedly laudable and the public health objective has constitutional value. However, the regulation aims to limit or even sanction the excess consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is not intended to ensure compliance with a level of prohibition that demonises wine in a country where the status of the wine sector in the national economy is not negligible. In addition, wine and its historical and territorial environment constitute a significant part of French culture. Finally, by taking such a position, the hygienism movement, by opining that wine is an alcohol like any other, do not 46 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. 47 Mr. Jelila above. 48 CA Paris, Pôle 1, ch. 8, 27 May 2016, n ° 15/01364, ANPAA c / Association Inter Rhône.