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The Austrian Wine Law Documentation Austrian Wine 2004

The Wine Law of 1999 brought new regulation of the wine areas and wine regions: the larger wine-growing areas of Niederösterreich (Lower Austria) and Burgenland were added and the wine regions Weinland and Bergland were created. Adaptations of the regulations on fruit wine were made to reflect modern technologies while at the same time providing protection to fruit must produced in the traditional manner. Moreover, a large number of simplifications, clarifications and adaptations to EU Community law were provided for.

Since it was passed in 1985, the Wine Law has been amended several times. The deletion of old and the addition of new sections had made the external form of the law imprecise and difficult for the people who should be following it to interpret. The present amendment is the result of an official petition to rephrase the Wine Law. The text of this rewording is in accordance with the petition, but renumbering as well as a clear distinction between the regulations on wine made from grapes and wine made from fruit has been undertaken. The new Wine Law of 1999 is a response to a long-standing desire, especially on the part of the wine industry, to create a lucid wine law as an integrated whole. In addition, the new Wine Law represents an adaptation to EU Community law in both a physical and a terminological respect.

Simultaneous to this amendment, the Agrarian Market Austria (AMA) Law was also altered to permit the levying of marketing fees for wine shipped to destinations outside Austria in containers larger than 50 litres. Thus an independent motion in accordance with Section 27 of the Rules of Procedure was also introduced.

Two committee rulings were made. The first confirmed the customary definition of a G’spritzter as a drink containing at least 50% wine, no more than 50% soda water or mineral water, and at least 4.5% alcohol. The second ruling established that use of the name “Obstmost traditionell bäuerlicher Produktion” (traditional farm-made fruit must) will be restricted to farms.

The Most Important Points at a Glance

  • Creation of larger wine-growing areas (the wine-growing areas of Niederösterreich and Burgenland) while retaining the smaller ones. Creation of the wine-growing regions Weinland and Bergland.

  • Revision of the chapter on fruit wine.

  • In particular, authorisation of the use of “modern concentrate technology” and creation of an “Obstmost traditionell bäuerlicher Produktion” (traditional farm-made fruit wine). In addition, the outdated portions of the law on fruit wine are being adapted to the new requirements.

  • Adaptation of the regulations on wine monitoring to the requirements of actual practice (especially the possibility of warnings issued by federal winery inspectors).

  • Terminological corrections: Concretisation of wine terminology in each individual passage of the text; deletion of allreferences to “versetzt” (fortified) and “nichtversetzt” (non-fortified) wine. Catalogue ofregulated terms to supplement those already regulated under EU law; in addition, a comprehensive terminological adaptation to EU law.

  • Adaptation to achieve conformity with the regulations of EU law in all areas (e.g. fortification, sweetening and designation) that already had de facto validity.

  • Adaptation of the definition of marketing to the requirements of practice.

  • Clarification e.g. in the case of pearl wine, alcohol-free or low-alcohol wine.

  • Deletion of blended wine drinks (with wine content under 50%) from the scope of the Wine Law.

  • Empowerment for the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Supply to issue regulations to implement regulations of the European Community that are not immediately applicable concerning the marketing of products covered by the Wine Law (e.g. Community guidelines on food labelling and additives).

  • Deletion of the requirement for harvest and stock declaration on April 30th.Levying of a marketing fee to include wine that is shipped to other countries in containers larger than 50 litres since this wine is bottled abroad and then sold by retailers as Austrian wine.

The 2000 Amendment to the Wine Law

The 2000 Amendment to the Wine Law consists essentially of the following points:

1. Changes with regard to contents:

  • Changing the act of sweetening of Prädikat wines from an offence requiring court action to one requiring administrative action.

  • Adaptation of the Wine Law of 1999 to the new common organisation of the market in wine (COMW).

  • Inclusion of empowerment for the creation and regulation of industry association (also made necessary by the new COMW).

  • Deletion of all competencies of examination of the other federal ministers (except for those of the Minister of Finance) in issuing regulations.

  • Deletion of the requirement for harvest and stock declaration as of 30 November.

  • Adoption of a requirement that Heuriger (wine from the last vintage), Schilcher and Bergwein must be produced in Austria.

2. Changes with regard to wording:

  • Replacement of the term Inländischer Wein (domestic wine) by Österreichischer Wein (Austrian wine).

  • Deletion of the declaratory regulation on the composition of certain additives that are forbidden in wine production.

  • Clarification that if a smaller geographic unit is specified, 100% of the grapes must not necessarily come from this unit but that the statutory exemption under Section 24 Z 2 may also apply.

  • Adoption of permissibility of the specification of three grape varieties in the case of Schaumwein (sparkling wine) as already permitted under labelling regulations.

  • Clarification of which regulations of the Wine Law actually apply to fruit wine. Replacement of the word Frist (fixed period of time) by Stichtag (fixed deadline date) in the penal regulation concerning harvest and stock declarations.

  • Insertion of a subsidiary clause in the case of certain administrative offences as in Paragraph 1 and 2; “…if the offence is not punishable by a heavier penalty in accordance with other regulations”.

  • Adaptation of the nomenclature of the federal ministries to the 2000 Amendment to the Law on Federal Ministries.

The 2002 Amendment to the Wine Law

The most significant points of article 10 of the Agrarian Policy Reform 2002 (BGFBL I Nr. 110) amending the Wine Law 1999 (BGB1 I Nr. 141) are as follows:

Section 3, Paragraph 6:
In comparison to the previous formulation of Section 3, Paragraph 6 it is made clear that in all phases of wine production perfect hygiene must be maintained. The term wine production as defined in Section 2, Paragraph 1 is to be included here, in which all phases of production, from harvesting and vinification to transfer and storage to sale, are described.

A corresponding civil offence constituent was added to Section 66, Paragraph 1 in which the repeated disrespect for hygienic circumstances during the production of wine as described in Section 3, Paragraph 6 is punishable by law. Criminal charge is to be made through the Federal Wine Cellar Inspection at the district court in addition to notification as specified in

Section 4, Paragraph 1:
The limit of 15 g residual sugar was up until now described in detail only in the sweetening process as specified in Section 5, Paragraph 1. The regulation from the old Wine Law 1985 that “sugar or concentrated grape juice can be added for fermentation purposes only” was not taken over into the new Wine Law 1999. Despite this the tolerance limit of 15 g per litre for chaptalization continued to be enforced in order to prevent the production of sweet wines through the addition of sweeteners. A new formulation includes the 15 g per litre limit of the addition of sweeteners in a clear way that no longer leaves room for legal misinterpretation as did the original phrase “for fermentation purposes only”.

Section 10, Paragraph 4:
European Union labelling laws make it possible for Austrian quality wines with predicate to state the predicate level alone on the label. The previous requirement for a further quality statement for wines with the predicate “Kabinett” is no longer necessary.

Section 10, Paragraph 6:
The Wine Law Amendment 2001 introduced Section 39a, Paragraph 1 in which the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Water, and Environment is empowered to establish interprofessional branch organisations. This enabling act includes regulations for creating stipulations for typical regional quality wines of geographic origin upon file of application from these organisations.
The corresponding Interprofessional Branch Organisation Decree (BGB1 II Nr. 138/2001) provides that regional wine committees resolve definitions of stipulations for the production and marketing of typical regional quality wines of geographic origin. The new Paragraph 6 of Section 10 provides for the possibility to market typical regional quality wines of geographic origin under the designation “Districtus Austria Controllatus” or “DAC”. This market designation is a “traditional specific term” as defined in Appendix VII A Z 2 and anchored in the new commission enforcement decree for EU labelling regulations. This designation takes the place of another quality statement on the label such as Qualitätswein or the various predicate levels.

Section 11, Paragraph 1 Z 7:
Up until now the grapes for the production of Strohwein were required to be dried for a minimum of three months. This strict time regulation proved to be too long under certain weather conditions. In some instances the three-month period minimized the quality of the harvested grapes. The wine law reform has provided for the possibility for improvement of Strohwein by permitting grapes to be pressed after two months storage as long as a minimum must weight of 30° KMW has been reached. If it is discovered afterwards through analysis that the must actually had less than 30° KMW, the wine cannot be labelled as Strohwein even if 25° KMW were reached. As with the old regulations and the regulations for ice wine, this wine must not be devalued as industrial wine, but may be marketed as quality wine without predicate.
The quality designation “Schilfwein” has been provided for in the new wine law. Like other predicate levels this qualifies as a traditional specific term as defined in Appendix VII A Z 2 and anchored in the new commission enforcement decree for EU labelling regulations.

Section 21, Paragraph 3 Z 3:
The wine law reform provides for a new wine area “Steiermark” and the wine region “Steierland”. The other wine areas remain the same just as in the solution for Niederösterreich (Lower Austria) and Burgenland.

Wine Law Amendment 2003

The new wine law of 1999 (BGB1 I Nr. 141) was amended on the 26th of January 2004 with the BGBL I Nr. 3 with the most important points as follows:

§ 3 Paragraph 4:
An effective control (see § 51 Paragraph 1 Z 2) of wine treatment substances currently available on the market necessitates the acquisition of data. Wine treatment substances are allowed to enter the market freely after registration at the merchants own risk. Registration is required not only for new wine treatment substances, but for those allowed before registration became a requirement. Substance registration is mandatory for importers, wholesalers and retailers selling wine treatment substances. A wine treatment substance which has already been reported can be sold without further registration. The listing of a wine treatment substance in the official register means only that it need not be reported again, but says nothing about the legality of the use of the substance. Registration is for documentation purposes only; through submitting a sample and a product description, assessment of a wine treatment substance’s legal use can be made.

§ 12 Paragraph 8:
To simplify administration, details for harvest inspection of grapes destined for predicated wines (place, time, etc.) will be listed directly in the legal sanctions for harvest inspection communities. The stipulation for a minimum price continues to be bound to the guidelines of Paragraph 9, stating that the price stipulation is to cover the costs of inspection administration.

Added to Z 6 (§ 16):
Up until now the Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management (BLFUW) was officially responsible for the issue of permits for large research projects. In the future the Federal Winery Inspection will take over this responsibility, which is in actuality confirmation of what has been practiced in the past. The Federal Bureau for Horticulture has cooperated with the Federal Winery Inspection in observing and directing research projects. The adjustment of legal administration, for example appeal on the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, now follow the changes in

§ 20 Paragraph 3 und 4:
Consumer deception prohibition wins a central focus through the abolition of the prohibition principle through the enactment of the decree (EG) Nr. 753/2002 from the Commission as of 29. April 2002 dealing with enforcement stipulations of the decree (EG) Nr. 1493/1999 of the Council over viticultural product description, labelling, packaging, and protection. Up until now only terms specifically designated and allowed by law could be stated on wine labels (prohibition principle: everything that is not specifically allowed is forbidden). In the future “factual information and information useful to the consumer” (Article 47 Paragraph 2 lit. c of the decree (EG) Nr. 1493/99) is permitted.
The general stipulations for consumer deception prohibition as described in § 20 Wine Law have been enlarged to encompass benefits or attributes that a product does not actually have. To enforce the EuGH jurisdiction in the case C-221/00 “European commission against the Austrian Republic” on the 23rd of January 2003 and the EuGH jurisdiction in the case C- 77/1997, Unilever on the 28th of January 1999, § 20 Wine Law 1999 has been amended to stipulate that in case of doubt in labelling the product producer must give proof of information stated on labels. This responsibility also corresponds to the basic principles of Article 6 Paragraph 2 of the VO (EG) Nr. 753/2002 which state that the relevant authorities in each member country are responsible for controlling the correctness of labels specifically pertaining to the product type, identity, quality, ingredients, and/or origin sourced from all producers, dispatchers, and importers.
The enforcement of an assessment process for the interpretation of labelling requirements serves clarification and legal certainty. By submitting an original label, simple theoretical cases can be spared a formal assessment process.

§ 27 Paragraph 1:
Through the abolition of the prohibition principle (see above) health-specific indications are no longer prohibited as long as they are justified and do not deceive the consumer. This is in accordance with the legal status for food products in general. Consumer deception prohibition is to use the averagely informed consumer as a standard.
Terms such as “Gesundheitswein” (health wine) are forbidden according to the findings of VwGH on the 22nd of March 1999, Zl. 98/10/0326/6 – because they are so vague that the average consumer cannot form a clear idea of which positive health benefits are to be interpreted and lead to completely false expectations.
Consumer deception prohibition also applies to the amendment regarding labelling terms with reference to illness. Indications such as “prevents heart attacks” or “prevents strokes” are forbidden, whether they are based on reality or not.

§ 32 Paragraph 2:
The enforcement of an effective wine control necessitates that the diverse authorities that have to with the execution of wine legalities (primarily the Federal Winery Inspection, the Ministry of Viticulture, College and Ministry for Horticulture, and federal financial authorities as well as district administration authorities) register data in a central databank. Every official should have free access to the information for which he is authorized (Article 22 B-VG) without bureaucratic red tape.
A project for centralizing information is currently underway and in its first phase of entering the data from the business registry (§ 32) and from the Federal Ministry for Viticulture (federal inspection numbers). The provinces have also declared their readiness to give access to their viticultural registry data. Each official department is responsible for the entry and maintenance of its own data; acentral office for this purpose only is not planned.
The entry of data from other departments such as the Federal Ministry for Land Survey and Real Estate Registry are planned in the next phase.

§ 39a Paragraph 1:
The Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water (BMLFUW) may set an additional fee for DAC wines coupled with the federal inspection number fee if petitioned to do so by a Regional Wine Committee. This fee would be collected by the Federal Ministry for Viticulture in Eisenstadt and these funds would then be put to use by the Austrian Wine Marketing for the promotion of DAC wines under consultation with the Regional Wine Committee.

Wine Law Amendment 2004

The Wine Law Amendment 2004 went into effect with the Agricultural Adaption Law in August 2004. There is now no longer an upper limit for alcohol content after chaptalization. Other details of the wine law such as penal provisions for the violation of regulations for the sealing of concentration apparatus or violation of the regulations for harvest and inventory reports were also adjusted. Further information for the Wine Law Amendment 2004 may be requested from Mr. Martin Raggam, BMLFUW

Wine Labelling Regulations in Keywords
(excerpt from a summary by the study group of the Federal Winery Inspector’s Office) General Points on Naming and Labelling. The name of a product is an important part of its product information and thus a means by which the seller creates a relationship with the buyer. The purpose of every name and form of presentation is thus to provide exact and truthful information to the buyer.
New EU labelling laws with apply as of January 1st, 2003. In the case of product names it is necessary to differentiate between PRESCRIBED (mandatory) information, which is necessary for the identification of the product and its classification in the appropriate product category and PERMISSIBLE (optional) information, which serves more as additional information about the special qualities of the wine.
Certain additional information on wine labels, pertaining for example to the grape variety or vintage, lie under strict parameters. Despite these specific restrictions, a certain liberalization comes into effect as of January 1st, 2003. All labelling terms will be allowed that are not misleading and which can be proved as truthful by the producer. This brings the long expected departure from the PROHIBITION PRINCIPLE of the old EU wine labeling regulations where all names and information not expressly permitted by law were forbidden. Products that are subject to the labelling regulations of EU wine law may not be sold without labels. Each individual bottle must be marked with the required information. This labelling is mandatory not only for sales to consumers but also for shipping. The marketing of unlabelled bottles is illegal, even if the correct labels are provided at the same time.

The PRESCRIBED information must be provided either on the label or on several labels glued to the same container in the same visual field. It must be clearly legible, indelible and in sufficiently large letters and must stand out clearly from the background and all other written information and illustrations. Thus the prescribed information must be in the same visual area. Important: it is insufficient for part of the prescribed information to be on the front of the bottle and another part on the back (rear label). The buyer must be able to grasp all the prescribed information at a glance.

PERMISSIBLE information must be provided in the same or another visual area, i.e. on the same label as the prescribed information or on one or several additional labels (exceptions are apparent in the present elaboration).
All the information for wine can also be affixed immediately to the container itself. The following elaboration of the labelling regulations is given point by point for each product – depending on the visual area. The regulations are cited only in abbreviated form. When in doubt concerning a particular labelling term, producers are advised to turn to the Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment, and Water Supply (BMLFUW) for consultation. The following labelling terms serve as a basic guideline for the much larger and more detailed wine labelling regulations.