On Friday 8 December, new rules on labelling the ingredients and nutritional values of wine and flavoured wine products entered into application in the European Union.
The additional information provided on labels will enable consumers to make more informed choices, the European Commission argues, while European producers had protested against the Commission’s interpretation of the new rules (see EUROPE 13300/13).
The new rules apply to all wines and wine products obtained from the harvest 2024 while all wines produced before 8 December 2023 will be exempted from the new rules until stocks are exhausted.
Operators have the choice of indicating the list of ingredients and the nutritional declaration either on the physical label of the wine or through a dedicated electronic means such as a QR code.
Allergenic substances will continue to be shown on the physical label, as is the case now for the energy value. The information provided online must be as clearly visible and accessible to consumers as the information provided on a physical label.
The word ‘ingredients’ should be easily identified by consumers on the label and must not be confused with other electronic media containing marketing messages.
The Commission recently published a set of questions and answers to guide operators and Member States in applying the new rules. National authorities will be in charge of enforcing the new rules. This will cover the existing gap between wine and all other food products, which have been required to provide such information for many years. Until now, wine, like other alcoholic beverages, was exempt from the obligation to provide information on the list of ingredients and the nutritional declaration.
On the new wine labels, consumers will be able to find at least the following information for all wines sold in the EU: the designation of the category of grapevine product, the words ‘protected designation of origin’ (PDO) or ‘protected geographical indication’ (PGI) and its name, for wines registered as geographical indications, the actual alcoholic strength by volume, the indication of provenance, the name of the bottler or the name of the producer or vendor, the net content, the sugar content in case of sparkling wine categories, the nutrition declaration, the list of ingredients, the substances causing allergies or intolerances and the minimum date of durability for grapevine products which have undergone a de-alcoholisation treatment.
The Commission states that this comprehensive information will guarantee consumers maximum transparency when choosing and buying wine.
The Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (CEEV) “regrets the concerns raised by the different interpretations of the new rules”. Wine companies are questioning what will happen to “the millions of labels already printed”, especially when it comes to sparkling wines, which will be immediately affected by the new legislation. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)