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The VDP has sharply criticised the proposals of the German Winegrowers' Association to reform the wine law. According to the proposals that became known a few days ago, the winegrowers' association wants to include the Romanesque system of site classification for wines with a protected designation of origin (PDO) with regional, local and site wines in the law. Country wines are given the indication "protected geographical indication" (PGI), as are quality and conventional dry predicate wines without any indication of place. The Großlagennamen, which have long been considered confusing, are to be retained, and the association also wants to achieve long transitional periods.
The VDP writes: "The decline of the domestic share of German wine below 40 percent and the massive slump in exports are more than warning signs. They illustrate a massive crisis whose causes and possible answers have been discussed for many years." Therefore, "a 'business as usual' would certainly not offer any chance of improvement". "Without cuts, it will not be possible in the end to lead German wine into a successful future. But it is now high time for this," the statement reads.
"The decisions made by the board of the German Winegrowers' Association on 4 February 2020 are the absolute minimum that must now be implemented. Further cutbacks would jeopardise the entire project, as this would no longer be associated with a profile and there would be no clarity for consumers."
According to the VDP, wines from grape varieties that do not correspond to the regional profiles to be defined in each case should be downgraded to PGI wines, as should "specialities in need of explanation" such as "Merlot and Rieslaner". The VDP statement ends with a very clear position: "Should no agreement be reached on this basis, thereby once again preventing the necessary steps from being taken, the future of German viticulture will lie in following different paths, as very many producers are not prepared to once again agree to a lowest common denominator, full of dilutions and parallelisms."
After some delay, the first draft bill of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture is to be published soon.
(uka / Photo: German Wine Institute)