| As it reforms its appellation system, Spain is moving in two apparently contradictory directions. On the one hand, single-estate appellations similar to France's Château Grillet or La Tâche have been created, and on the other hand, a new wider based' Geographic Indication' based almost nationwide comes up from the 2007 harvest. Named as Viñedos de España it will encompass Vin de Pays or Vino de la Tierra, reports wine-business-international.com.
Spain is currently running the largest deficit in consumption compared to production in the world, increasing the sense of urgency to take a corrective measure. One of the ways to attack the problem is to make the appellation system more flexible, to be able to compete on different levels within the European Union's restrictive legal framework. The wine law reform of 2003 made new appellations possible and now this step is translating it into practical results.
Under European Union rules, grapes from several regions can only go into Vin de Table, and such wines cannot mention any geographic indication, vintage or grape varieties on the label, making it impossible for them to compete. European rules, on the other hand, while allowing such mentions for Vins de Pays or Geographic Indications, rule out nationwide appellations. So the Spanish have responded with a quasi-national appellation.
The strong opposition by well-established appellations like Rioja or Ribera del Duero makes the future of this initiative hard to ascertain. They insist that Viñedos de España is just a way to try to sell inferior bulk wines abroad under a more attractive presentation, and that this will undermine the existing quality wines and the image of Spain abroad.
Vino de Pago and Viñedos de España are two good ideas for Spain . It remains to be seen whether they wind up becoming two equally good realities.
Full story at http://wine-business-international.com |
