Quality Wines Produced in Specified Regions

Quality Wines Produced in Specified Regions (often abbreviated to QWpsr or simply "quality wines") is a quality indicator used within European Union wine regulations

European Union wine regulations

European Union wine regulations are common legislation related to wine existing within the European Union , the member states of which account for almost two-thirds of the world's wine production...

. The QWpsr category identifies wines with protected geographical indications. The European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

regulates and defines the status of "quality wines" according to production

Winemaking

Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material...

method, management and geographical location. Its original, fundamental role is in differentiating quality wines from table wine

Table wine

Table wine is a wine term with two different meanings: a wine style; and a quality level within wine classification.In the United States, table wine primarily designates a wine style - ordinary wine which is neither fortified nor sparkling....

s, broadly in line with the system traditionally employed by the French government, amended to account for the preferences and methodology of Italian

Italian wine

Italian wine is wine produced in Italy, a country which is home to some of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world. Italy is the world's largest wine producer, responsible for approximately one-fifth of world wine production in 2005. Italian wine is exported largely around the world and has...

and German

German wine

German wine is primarily produced in the west of Germany, along the river Rhine and its tributaries, with the oldest plantations going back to the Roman era. Approximately 60 percent of the German wine production is situated in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, where 6 of the 13 regions ...

growers, among others in the EU.

History

In 1962, shortly after the Treaty of Rome

Treaty of Rome

The Treaty of Rome, officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, was an international agreement that led to the founding of the European Economic Community on 1 January 1958. It was signed on 25 March 1957 by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany...

created the European Economic Community

European Economic Community

The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...

(EEC, or "Common Market") a set of rules

Regulation

Regulation is administrative legislation that constitutes or constrains rights and allocates responsibilities. It can be distinguished from primary legislation on the one hand and judge-made law on the other...

were drawn up in which the normal common organisation of the market for a type of product – normally limited to a pricing system, rules on intervention and a system for trade with third-party countries – was extended in several areas in order to accommodate the diverse interests of wine production within individual member states. The wine sector required regulation of more technical aspects, such as the development

Business development

A subset of the field of commerce, business development comprises a number of techniques and responsibilities which aim at:1. Researching new types of business/products/services with an emphasis on identifying gaps in the mitigation of needs of potential clients .2. Attracting new customers3...

of wine-growing potential

Potential

*In linguistics, the potential mood*The mathematical study of potentials is known as potential theory; it is the study of harmonic functions on manifolds...

, wine production techniques, oenological

Oenology

Oenology,[p] œnology , or enology is the science and study of all aspects of wine and winemaking except vine-growing and grape-harvesting, which is a subfield called viticulture. “Viticulture & oenology” is a common designation for training programmes and research centres that include both the...

practices and processes, rules on designation

Designation

Designation may refer to:* Professional certification* Designation , an official classification determined by a government agency or historical society- See also :* United States Department of Defense aerospace vehicle designation...

and presentation

Presentation

Presentation is the practice of showing and explaining the content of a topic to an audience or learner. Presentations come in nearly as many forms as there are life situations...

, rules governing the movement and release for consumption of wine products, protection of designations of origin, and so on.

At the time the EEC had only six members, four of which were major wine producers; France, Germany, Italy and Luxembourg. The French initiated Community recognition of their principles which differentiated between "quality wines" and "table wines" in order to standardise the marketing of exported wine. Germany and Luxembourg in particular objected to any barriers to the development of their wine industry, which was geared towards the production of wines with a readily available outlet, nor did they wish to change the practice of chaptalisation (the enrichment of wine by adding sugar) which was foreign to many parts of France and forbidden in Italy. French production was highly regulated, where Italians were proud of the free commercialisation of their wines. Where plantation

Plantation

A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...

was strictly regulated in some states, it was practically uncontrolled in others.

The QWpsr classification surmounted these problems, dictating specific treatment for ‘quality wines’, excluding them from classic market management mechanisms such as distillation and storage, while requiring stricter discipline for production and control. Early agreements respected the broad outlines of French national legislation and were also acceptable to Italy. Whereas many guiding principles (including the maintenance of traditional practices and distinguishing between categories of wines) continue to apply without any fundamental changes, many, like freedom of plantation and non-application of intervention measures to quality wines, have gradually been amended. At one point, new plantings were banned to prevent over-production, while the same problem (the infamous "wine lake

Wine lake

The wine lake refers to the continuing supply surplus of wine produced in the European Union. A major contributor to that glut is the Languedoc-Roussillon, which produces over one-third of the grapes grown in France. In 2007 it was reported that for the previous several vintages, European...

s" of the last few decades) has led to widespread distillation of quality wines being permitted in years of surplus production, known as "crisis distillation". Today, with domestic demand falling and a boom

Boom and bust

A credit boom-bust cycle is an episode characterized by a sustained increase in several economics indicators followed by a sharp and rapid contraction. Commonly the boom is driven by a rapid expansion of credit to the private sector accompanied with rising prices of commodities and stock market index...

in sales of New World wine

New World wine

New World wines are those wines produced outside the traditional wine-growing areas of Europe, in particular from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States.-Early wines in the Americas:...

, European growers are seeing increasing amounts of quality wines destined to become ethanol

Ethanol

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...

and other biofuel

Biofuel

Biofuel is a type of fuel whose energy is derived from biological carbon fixation. Biofuels include fuels derived from biomass conversion, as well as solid biomass, liquid fuels and various biogases...

s..

Rules and regulations

Quality wines legislation does not specify exactly which wines should be subect to its rules and member states are permitted to regulate their own production in order to preserve traditional practices. In fact the very concept of QWpsr differs between northern and southern Europe; countries like Germany are regulated by quality first and little importance is given to geographical location, while other growers are regulated by geographical considerations first, as is the case with the Spanish Denominación de Origen
Denominación de Origen
Denominación de Origen is part of a regulatory classification system primarily for Spanish wines but also for other foodstuffs like honey, meats and condiments. In wines it parallels the hierarchical system of France and Italy although Rioja and Sherry preceded the full system...

regulations. As a consequence, where German wines are automatically classified as QWpsr, French, Italian and Spanish wines only attain that status after being officially approved.

The current QWpsr regulations, last modified in 2000, stipulate the following areas in which member states must make specific provisions:

lists of suitable grape varieties
details of required wine-growing methods
the regulation of enrichment and sweetening practices
stipulation of a minimum natural alcoholic strength
maximum yield
Crop yield
In agriculture, crop yield is not only a measure of the yield of cereal per unit area of land under cultivation, yield is also the seed generation of the plant itself...

by hectare
analysis of wines and assessment of organoleptic
Organoleptic
Organoleptic is an adjective used to refer to the aspects of food or other substances as experienced by the senses, including taste, sight, smell, and touch.-USDA uses:...

characteristics
ensuring that grape production, wine making and development are carried out within the specified region
the circumstances under which quality wine may be downgraded to table wine status.

List of national QWpsr designations

The following national levels of wine classification correspond to QWpsr. Many EU countries have more than one QWpsr level, and in such cases, there is typically a national hierarchy between them, although they all follow the same EU rules.

Country	National classification corresponding to QWpsr
Country	Higher level	Lower level
Austria Austria Austrian wine Austrian wines are mostly dry white wines with some luscious dessert wines made around the Neusiedler See. About 30% of the wines are red, made from Blaufränkisch , Pinot Noir and locally bred varieties such as Zweigelt...	Prädikatswein (Qualitätswein besonderer Reife und Leseart)	Qualitätswein, Districtus Austriae Controllatus Districtus Austriae Controllatus Districtus Austriae Controllatus , DAC, is a recently introduced classification for wine in Austria loosely modelled on the French Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée systems and similar classifications...
Belgium Belgium Belgian wine Belgian wine is produced in several parts of Belgium and production, although still modest at 1,400 hectoliter in 2004, has expanded in recent decades.-History:...	Gecontroleerde oorsprongsbenaming (Dutch), Appellation d’origine contrôlée (French)
Kingdom of Bulgaria Bulgaria Bulgarian wine Grape growing and wine production have a long history in Bulgaria, dating back to the times of the Thracians. Wine is, together with beer and grape rakia, among the most popular alcoholic beverages in the country.-Viticultural regions:...	Гарантирано и контролирано наименование за произход (ГКНП), "Guaranteed and controlled designation of origin" (GKaNP)	Гарантирано наименование за произход (ГНП), "Guaranteed designation of origin" (GNP)
Cyprus Cyprus	Οίνος Ελεγχόμενης Ονομασίας Προέλευσης (ΟΕΟΠ), "Controlled Designation of Origin" (OEOP)
Czech Republic Czech Republic Czech wine Wine in the Czech Republic is produced mainly in southern Moravia, although a few vineyards are located in Bohemia. However, Moravia accounts for around 96% of the country's vineyards, which is why Czech wine is more often referred to as Moravian wine ...	Jakostní víno s přívlastkem	Jakostní víno
Early Modern France France French wine French wine is produced in several regions throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France has the world's second-largest total vineyard area, behind Spain, and is in the position of being the world's largest wine producer...	Appellation d'origine contrôlée Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée Appellation d’origine contrôlée , which translates as "controlled designation of origin", is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, all under the auspices of the government bureau Institut National... (AOC)	Appellation d'origine vin délimité de qualité supérieure (AOVDQS or VDQS)
Germany Germany German wine German wine is primarily produced in the west of Germany, along the river Rhine and its tributaries, with the oldest plantations going back to the Roman era. Approximately 60 percent of the German wine production is situated in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, where 6 of the 13 regions ...	Prädikatswein (formerly Qualitätswein mit Prädikat, QmP)	Qualitätswein (Qualitätswein besondrer Anbaugebiete, QbA)
Greece Greece Greek wine Greece is one of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world. The earliest evidence of Greek wine has been dated to 6,500 years ago where wine was produced on a household or communal basis. In ancient times, as trade in wine became extensive, it was transported from end to end of the...	Ονομασία Προέλευσης Ανωτέρας Ποιότητας (ΟΠΑΠ), "Appellation of Origin of Superior Quality" (OPAP)	Ονομασία Προέλευσης Ελεγχόμενη (ΟΠΕ), "Controlled Appellation of Origin" (OPE)
Hungary Hungary	Minőségi bor, "Quality wine"	Védett eredetű bor, "Wine with protected origin"
Italy Italy Italian wine Italian wine is wine produced in Italy, a country which is home to some of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world. Italy is the world's largest wine producer, responsible for approximately one-fifth of world wine production in 2005. Italian wine is exported largely around the world and has...	Denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (D.O.C.G.), may also be written in German as Kontrollierte und garantierte Ursprungsbezeichnung on wines from Bolzano	Denominazione di origine controllata Denominazione di Origine Controllata Denominazione di origine controllata is a quality assurance label for food products, especially wines and various formaggi . It is modelled after the French AOC... (D.O.C.), may also be written in German as Kontrollierte Ursprungsbezeichnung on wines from Bolzano
Luxembourg Luxembourg Luxembourg wine Luxembourg wine is primarily produced in the southeastern part of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, with vineyards overlooking the Moselle River. Along this river, which for 42 km makes up part of the border between Luxembourg and Germany, wine is made in three countries. There is a continuous history...	Marque nationale + Appellation d'origine (A.O.)
Malta Malta Maltese wine Wine production in Malta dates back over two thousand years to the Roman era, but in the past Maltese wines had a bad reputation, and the majority of the grapes were consumed as food. In the beginning of the 20th century Emmanuel Delicata and Marsovin wineries were established. In the 1970s wine...	Denominazzjoni ta’ Origini Kontrollata (D.O.K.)
Portugal Portugal Portuguese wine Portuguese wine is the result of traditions introduced to the region by ancient civilizations, such as the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, and mostly the Romans. Portugal started to export its wines to Rome during the Roman Empire. Modern exports developed with trade to England after the...	Denominação de Origem Controlada Denominação de Origem Controlada The Denominação de Origem Controlada is the system of protected designation of origin for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products from Portugal.-Wines:... (D.O.C.)	Indicação de proveniência regulamentada (I.P.R.), Denominação de Origem (D.O.)
Kingdom of Romania Romania Romanian wine Romania is one of the world's largest wine producers, producing around 610,000 tons of wine. In recent years, Romania has attracted many European business people and wine buyers, due to the affordable prices of both vineyards and wines compared to other wine producing nations such as France,...	Vin cu denumire de origine controlată (D.O.C.)
Slovak Republic Slovak wine Slovak wine is produced in the southern part of Slovakia, which is divided into 6 wine-producing areas.Although Slovak wines except Tokaj are not well known internationally, they are popular domestically and in neighbouring countries.-Regions:...	Akostné víno s prívlastkom	Akostné víno
Spain Spain Spanish wine Spanish wines are wines produced in the southwestern European country of Spain. Located on the Iberian Peninsula, Spain has over 2.9 million acres planted—making it the most widely planted wine producing nation but it is the third largest producer of wine in the world, the largest...	Denominación de origen calificada (DOCa), Vino de pago calificado	Denominación de origen Denominación de Origen Denominación de Origen is part of a regulatory classification system primarily for Spanish wines but also for other foodstuffs like honey, meats and condiments. In wines it parallels the hierarchical system of France and Italy although Rioja and Sherry preceded the full system... (DO), Vino de calidad con indicación geográfica, Vino de pago
United Kingdom United Kingdom Wine from the United Kingdom Wine from the United Kingdom is generally classified as either English wine or Welsh wine, with reference to England or Wales as its respective origin. The term British wine is generally used for fermented imported grape juice or concentrate that can originate from anywhere in the world, and so is...	Quality wine (English vineyard quality wine psr, Welsh vineyard quality wine psr)