Wine Law

22 In Italy – quite surprisingly, given the heterogeneity of products, reflecting the diversity of regional contexts, since the country has only been united for a century and a half and has not benefited from a centralising tradition, as in most other countries –, those terms are quite few in number, mostly from Italy’s small German speaking territories, being abbazia, Abtei, Ansitz, Burg, castello, Kloster, rocca, Schlofl, Stift, torre, villa. All those terms are reserved for wines with PDO or PGI, provided that the wine is made exclusively from grapes harvested in vineyards exploited by that holding, and the winemaking is entirely carried out on that holding. It is up to the Member States to regulate the use of their respective terms while third countries shall establish the rules on use applicable to their respective terms, including those emanating from representative professional organisations. In all these cases, the link between the wine label and the place where the wine is made shall be particularly close. This means, if the label indicates “Château”, as in the well- known Château Margaux, Château d’Yquem or Château Lafite-Rotchild, the consumer may expect to find a castle somewhere in the estate. The word “Château” in French means “castle”, but, in the wine business, it refers to a wine-producing estate, which is normally a combination of vineyards, cellars and any buildings on the property, which, in some occasions, include a real castle. For instance, Château Guibot and Château Guibeau la Fourvieille a re just one estate (Scea Bourlon Destouet), and in the Puisseguin Saint- Émilion appellation area, there are definitively more fantastic wine estates than real castles. Moreover, the winery for sparkling wine Schloss Wachenheim, in Tier (Rhineland- Palatinate), around the 1900s was not much of a castle either. We will see in greater detail, in point 4.5., how the issue is dealt with in Italy. 2.8. Names of geographical units smaller or larger than the area underlying the PDO or PGI A grapevine product bearing a PDO, PGI or a GI of a third country may have a reference on the label to the name of a geographical unit that is smaller or larger than the area of that designation of origin or geographical indication 40 . Member States may establish rules Domäne, Kloster, Schloss, Stift, Weinbau, Weingärtner, Weingut, Winzer, while in Austria Eigenbau, Familie, Gutswein, Güterverwaltung, Hof, Hofgut, Kloster, Landgut, Stadtgut, Winzermeister are added. 40 Article 55 of Regulation (EU) No 33/2019, previously article 67 of Regulation (EC) No 607/2009.

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