Wine Law

37 Under article 120(2)(a) of Regulation No 1308/2013, the procedures and methods for controlling the production of wines without PDO or PGI designated with the vintage or with the name of the variety or vine varieties are established by decree of the Ministry of Agriculture 63 . It was, in fact, the Decree of the Ministry of Agriculture of 23 December 2009 64 , which listed several grape varieties that can be used in Italy in the labelling reference of varietal wines with no PDO nor PGI. However, this possibility is limited to some international vines and in specifically those which are listed in the Decree’s Annex 4, positive list of vine varieties, or their synonyms, which can appear on the labelling and presentation of the wines which do not have a PDO or PGI, for all categories of wine products. Article 7 of the Decree provides that for the purpose of labelling and presentation of wines that do not have a PDO or PGI, a very large number of a large number of varieties remain excluded from the right to be indicated on the label, while only seven varieties can be indicated on wine labels for wines without a PDO/PGI. These are Cabernet franc, Cabernet sauvignon, Cabernet, Chardonnay, Merlot, Sauvignon and Syrah. Therefore, the pyramid of Italian wines starts, at the bottom, with generic wines, climbing to varietal wines, to wines with a PGI, to PDO/DOC wines and ending at the top with PDO/DOCG wines. 63 Article 66 of the Decree 238 of 2016. 64 National provisions implementing Regulation (EC) No. 1234/2007 of the Council and application regulation (EC) no. 607/2009 of the Commission, as regards PDOs, PGIs, mentions traditional, labelling and presentation of certain wine sector products.