De-alcoholization
Vigne ©DR
European regulations have allowed the dealcoholization of wines with official signs of quality and origin (SIQO) down to 0.5 degrees since December 2021.
For several months, the INAO's PGI wine committee has been examining the possibility of opening up this provision to French PGI wines. In particular, organoleptic, origin-related, technological, regulatory and economic aspects were taken into account in this reflection.
At the end of this work, the committee of April 4, 2024 took a clear direction.
- PGI wines may be dealcoholized up to 6 degrees, provided:
- That this possibility is included in the cahier des charges, following an instruction conducted by the national committee, based on a request from the ODG,
- That all wines are organoleptically controlled before and after dealcoholization.
- Below 6 degrees, ODGs will be able to conduct an experiment or mobilize the dispositif d'évaluation des innovations (DEI).
- This is open, however, only to ODGs that have provided in their specifications for the possibility of producing dealcoholized wines down to 6 degrees,
- These experiments, based on a request from the ODG, will be monitored by the INAO's Scientific and Technical Commission.