Indication Géographique Protégée

From 2012 there will be a new system of classification of French Wines. Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP)will be replacing VDQS and from 2014 Appellation d'Origine Protégée (AOP) will be replacing AOC.
The rules for AOP will remain almost the same as for the old AOC so the grape varieties will still need to be approved for the region. There will now be quality and tasting tests applied to the wines as they are sold in the shops. The new rules for AOP should ensure the regional character of the wines which have this appellation. The wine maker is already allowed to put the variety of grape on the label- this has been allowed since 2009.

Wines which are denominated as IGP are already appearing in the shops and the new rules for this classification allow greater flexibility for the varieties of grapes used by the winemaker and flexibility for where the the grapes come from; so up to 15% of the grapes may come from another delimited region.

There will also be another category called Vins de France or Vignobles de France which will allow grapes from anywhere in France to be used but the wine will be allowed to show the vintage on the bottle. Vignobles de france wines will be allowed additives such as oak chips, tannin, sorbic acid and concentrated grape must for sweetening. This will be good reason to avoid these branded wines completely.

These changes to the wine laws are sponsored by the EU and apply to all wine producing countries, thus for example one might now see DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta) on bottles of Italian wine rather than DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) or DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata).

Italian wines which were designated IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) will be replaced by IGP (Indicazione Geografica Protetta).

These wine rule changes are designed to enable European winemakers to compete with their counterparts from the New World who have not been restricted by bureaucracy. It is claimed that it will improve the quality of wine in general. I shall reserve my opinion about this. We have seen the increasing industrialisation of wine making techniques so much so that it is often the case that you cannot tell where a wine comes from and many wines all taste the same. How often have you been treated to an Australian Merlot which you cannot distinguish from a Chilean Merlot or an Italian or French one. Varietal labelling encourages the approach of making homogenised wines which all taste the same because they are made from the same additives in the same proportions and with the same yeast clones. These are not essentially poor quality wines but they are boring and nowadays they can cost seven or eight pounds a bottle: we all deserve something better than this industrialised ennui. I am of the opinion that the new rules will lead to the further industrialsation of European wines at the IGP and lesser levels.

The other day I was served a bottle of the new IGP Italian Cabernet Sauvignon in a South London pub which will remain nameless. It tasted like dishwater and was fit only to be thrown away. The waitress had no idea what types of wine were on the menu all she could offer was "Cabernet Sauvignon" or "Merlot" etc. She had no idea about wine. I should have known better for the beer that I tried previously , Westerham Bitter, was stale and tasted of wet grass. The publicans and their staff obviously knew nothing about their trade. For once I had found a pub where the food was better, but not much, than the the drinks. To complain would have been pointless. So, anyone who thinks that the food and drink in pubs and restaurants, in general, is now better in the UK than in Italy, France or Spain is fooling themselves. It only matches our continental cousins when you pay astronomical prices.

Hopefully, we shall not have to pay astronomical prices for good everyday drinking wine that has some individuality. This will be the test of the new wine laws.