Regulation 1992/2333 - General rules for the description and presentation of sparkling wines and aerated sparkling wines - Main contents

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Council Regulation (EEC) No 2333/92 of 13 July 1992 laying down general rules for the description and presentation of sparkling wines and aerated sparkling wines

Official Journal L 231 , 13/08/1992 P. 0009 - 0021

COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2333/92 of 13 July 1992 laying down general rules for the description and presentation of sparkling wines and aerated sparkling wines

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 of 16 March on the common organization of the market in wine(1) , and in particular Article 72 (1) and 79 (2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 3309/85 of 18 November 1985 laying down general rules for the description and presentation of sparkling wines and aerated sparkling wines(2) , has been substantially amended: whereas, following a number of successive consolidations of the Community rules on wine, and in particular the consolidation of the general rules for the description and presentation of wines and grape musts covered by Regulation (EEC) No 2392/89(3) , it is appropriate, for reasons of logic and clarity, also to consolidate Regulation (EEC) No 3309/85;

Whereas the purposes of description and presentation should always be to provide potential final consumers and public bodies responsible for organizing and supervising the marketing of the products concerned with sufficiently clear and accurate information to enable them to form an opinion of the products; whereas rules should therefore be drawn up to ensure that this purpose is served;

Whereas, in the case of descriptive items, a distinction should be made between mandatory information needed to identify a sparkling or aerated sparkling wine and optional information designed mainly to indicate the intrinsic qualities of a product or to distinguish it sufficiently from other products in the same category which compete with it on the market;

Whereas it is important to draw up a full list of mandatory information and define the conditions under which this information may be used in the description of sparkling wines or aerated sparkling wines;

Whereas information on the alcoholic strength by volume of sparkling wines and aerated sparkling wines appears necessary in order to describe on the labelling the nature of the product and thus to facilitate consumer choice; whereas provision shall therefore be made that a compulsory indication of the actual alcoholic strength by volume be given for the products in question;

Whereas various terms are traditionally used in the Community for the sales description of quality sparkling wines; whereas, in order to assist final consumers in their choice, it should be provided that the sales description of these products should consist of one of these terms, without the term Sekt being allowed to serve indirectly as a geographical description of a sparkling wine;

Whereas experience indicates the need to specify that for the purpose of informing the consumers of sparkling and aerated sparkling wines of the product type as determined by the residual sugar content only the information required under Community rules is permitted on the labelling;

Whereas, in order to facilitate the marketing of the said products, it should be left to the parties concerned to choose which optional information they wish to include, without provision of an exhaustive list; whereas the choice of optional information should nevertheless be restricted to details which are not inaccurate or liable to create confusion in the minds of final consumers or others for whom the information is intended;

Whereas it inspires a degree of confidence in the consumer if the various stages in the manufacture of a quality sparkling wine produced in a specified region, hereinafter called 'quality sparkling wine...

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