03 окт 2015
This speech in the context of a panel devoted to the harmonisation, mutual recognition and impact of the various bodies of international regulation governing the wine market outlined developments in wine law over the past thirty years. This international meeting gathering brought together in Santorini, Greece, a hundred or so jurists from 20 countries, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the founding of the A.I.D.V – I.W.L.A ., to discuss legal topics connected with the introduction of new technologies, the protection of geographical indications, the protection of vine varieties, international trade conflicts, counterfeiting and Internet, planting authorisations and the law governing successions. At this meeting, the President of the A.I.D.V – I.W.L.A ., Rein-Jan Prins presented members with the results of an international survey among the membership, which showed the vitality of the Association and the importance of this network with its 300 jurists in some thirty countries. A special role to which Jean-Marie Aurand drew attention, while expressing pleasure at the activity of this organisation with observer status in the OIV and stressing that the vine and wine sector was unique in benefiting from a worldwide network of specialised jurists.
29 сен 2015
This presentation was organised by the wine company Jul Plantaze and the National Wine Growers’ Association, and involved eleven wine-producing companies.
Montenegro produces high-quality wines from native grape varieties such as Vranac (red) and Krstac (white).With the Plantaze company, the country possesses the largest wine estate in Europe with more than 2300 ha of vines and 17 million bottles produced per year, of which much is exported worldwide. A Member of the OIV since 2007, one year after the country’s independence, Montenegro is carrying out a proactive policy of modernisation and promotion of the vine and wine sector, involving in particular the development of wine tourism, the upgrading of its vine and wine heritage and the promotion of its terroirs.
14 сен 2015
The work that brought together international marketing and communication experts alongside producers and wineries from Porto was followed by tasting sessions. A symposium on the role of Port wine and Douro wines in the local economy extended the discussions to 11 September.
On this occasion, the OIV Director General, Jean-Marie Aurand, spoke up about the place of science and innovation in the wine sector and the role of the OIV in this context.With nearly 24,000 producers, the Porto region makes the most renowned liqueur wines in the word, shaping the countryside with the characteristic terraces that were recognised on the World Heritage of Humanity list by UNESCO in 2001 as evolving, living cultural landscapes.The Douro region is spread across 250,000 ha of schist soils, with 44,000 ha of vines producing the Port and Douro designations of origin.Douro is the oldest delimited and regulated wine region in the world, dating back to 1756. Port wine may be tasted in around 120 countries on all 5 continents. It represents a significant part of the Portuguese vitivinicultural economy.
07 сен 2015
Former president of the International Federation of Wines and Spirits (FIVS) for almost 17 years, Finkle boosted the Federation to impose its place in the vitivinicole’s industry, particular as an active observer to the OIV and the Codex Alimentarius. The OIV wishes to pay tribute to the memory of a passionate man who has been entirely devoted to the improvement of the world’s vitivinicole industry and would like to extend its deepest sympathies to his family. James FinkleJames P. Finkle served as the Chairman of the Board of Managers of FIVS-Abridge, a comprehensive interactive online database of regulations and international agreements for the wine industry. He retired as Senior Vice President, External Affairs, for Constellation Brands, Inc. and was a member of the Executive Committee of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. Additionally, Mr. Finkle was on the Board of Directors of the Wine Institute, Wine America, and the Associated New York State Food Processors and assisted the US Department of Agriculture’s Technical Advisory Committee for Trade. He received both his Bachelor of Science Degree and his Master of Science Degree from Cornell University, both degrees in Viticulture and Agricultural Economics.
01 сен 2015
Bolivia, who was a member of the Organisation from 1993 to 2004, is one of the signatory States to the Agreement of 3 April 2001 but has not yet formally ratified it, partly due to the reforms it has made to its national constitution in recent years. The Director General of the OIV highlighted the defining features of Bolivian vineyards, namely the "vinos de altura" (wines of altitude) or Singani spirit, which are significant elements of South America's vitivinicultural heritage and should bring the country's vitivinicultural sector to rejoin the global wine community within makes up the OIV. H.E. Mr Guevara Ávila indicated that the accession procedure is underway and that he hopes that it would be completed by the end of the year 2015.
27 июл 2015
Grapevine trunk diseases (GTD) have become a real problem during the last years.OIV also, has started up again the work in this sense according to its Strategic plan and work program, which first action was settled down in 2006 (VITI 02/2006 resolution) but some actions are needed nowadays in order to complete this resolution about preventive measures.It is important to underline that this topic is evaluated by several initiatives and actions developed at national or international level. The OIV Secretariat general has wished to elaborate a document underlying the importance of this topic, the ongoing works and the need for an international cooperation.Download document (in English)
27 июл 2015
During this meeting, the Codex Alimentarius Commission adopted several standards, some of which have a direct impact on the international vitivinicultural sector.
With regard to additives in wine (category 14.2.3), the Member States of the Codex Alimentarius approved the inclusion of carbon dioxide among those subject to GMPs, with the following note: “The CO2 content in finished still wine shall not exceed 4000 mg/kg at 20°C”.Four additives, regarding the "Grape wines" category in particular, were added to the priority list of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee (JECFA) for toxicological assessment. These were, namely, tannins, yeast mannoproteins (INS 455), potassium bisulphite (INS 228) and metatartaric acid (INS 353). Furthermore, the Commission adopted a number of Maximum Residue Limits for pesticides used in the production of table grapes or dried grapes.The existing limits for these pesticides, listed below, were revoked and replaced by the following limits:Note: With regard to MRLs, the OIV Secretariat has put together a list of online links on the website www.oiv.int. The list includes information available concerning maximum residue limits applicable to grapes (table, wine and dried grapes) and to wines (where relevant). This information is based on:
- notifications from Member Countries, as requested in adopted OIV resolutions,
- notifications made by countries to the WTO,
- other sources: Codex Alimentarius, EU, the USDA MRL database.
23 июл 2015
This book provides a detailed examination of trends and social disparities in alcohol consumption. It offers a wide-ranging assessment of the health, social and economic impacts of key policy options for tackling alcohol-related harms in three OECD countries (Canada, the Czech Republic and Germany), extracting relevant policy messages for a broader set of countries.This book is divided in 6 ChaptersChapter 1. Alcohol: The public health side of a social phenomenonChapter 2. Trends in alcohol consumption in OECD countriesChapter 3. Social disparities in alcohol drinkingChapter 4. Tackling alcohol-related harms: What policy approaches? Chapter 5. Health and economic impacts of key alcohol policy optionsChapter 6. Alcohol, the individual and society: A caIl for coherent alcohol policiesRead the OECD Report: Sassi, F.(ed.) (2015), Tackling Harmful Alcohol Use: Economics and Public Health Policy, OECD Publishing, Paris.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264181069-en
20 июл 2015
Monika Christmann elected as President Having been involved in the activities of the OIV for around 20 years, Prof. Dr. Christmann was unanimously elected by the States present. An oenology teacher and researcher at the Geisenheim Research Institute, she was formerly President of the OIV "Oenology" Commission and OIV Vice-President for 3 years, after being elected by the Scientific and Technical Committee. Monika Christmann will be supported in her new role by a new Steering Committee, since the General Assembly also elected the following as: President of the "Viticulture" Commission: Benjamin Bois (France)President of the "Oenology" Commission: Luigi Moio (Italy)President of the "Economy and Law" Commission: Tony Battaglene (Australia)President of the “Safety and Health” Commission: Nuria García Tejedor (Spain)President of the "Methods of Analysis" Sub-Commission: Ondřej Mikeš (Czech Republic)President of the "Table Grapes, Raisins and Unfermented Vine Products" Sub-Commission: Luis Peres de Sousa (Portugal)
15 июл 2015
Decisions on viticulture
- As a fundamental component of the vitivinicultural "terroir", climate largely affects the vine physiology, agronomic characteristics and the final quality of its products. In order to be able to assess the scale and significance of the effect of climate change in recent decades in relation to global vitiviniculture, as well as the projections for the future, the OIV adopted a methodology so that these scientific assessments can be adapted to the vitivinicultural sector and be as accurate as possible, before proposing strategies to adapt to these present or future changes (Resolution OIV-VITI 517-2015). This methodology follows four steps: 1/ define the period of the study, 2/ define the spatial scope of the study, 3/ choose the climatic and vitivinicultural variables, and 4/ choose the climatic models and the scenarios of the study.
- Moreover, the OIV adopted recommendations for the inventory of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the vine and wine sector on the subject of the GHGs as well as their global warming potential, activities and impacts to be considered (Resolution OIV-CST-503AB 2015). It also decided to provide more specific information on national and international methodologies for the valuation of GHG emissions in a separate informative report, updated on a regular basis by OIV experts. This document, based on the general principles of the OIV GHG protocol, is intended to provide specific information on the elements to be considered when calculating the GHG emissions of a company or a particular product as well as detailed information on the GHGs to be considered.
- A new oenological practice for the treatment of musts and wines using glutathione (Resolutions OIV-OENO 445-2015 and OIV-OENO 446-2015). The objective of this practice is to limit the intensity of the oxidation phenomena in musts thanks to the ability of glutathione to trap quinones and reduce their oxidasic activity, but also to protect the aromatic substances of the wine from oxidation thanks to the antioxidant properties of glutathione. For wine, it is recommended that glutathione be added during conservation and/or packaging in bottles. The dose used should not exceed 20 mg/L.
- The treatment of wines with malolactic fermentation activators was adopted. This practice is designed to promote the initiation, kinetics or completion of malolactic fermentation either by enriching the environment with nutrients and growth factors of lactic acid bacteria, or by adsorbing some bacteria inhibitors (Resolution OIV-OENO 531-2015).
- a revision of the monograph on proteins of plant origin. A specification is added to the potato proteins by fixing a maximum limit for glycoalkaloids (?-solanine and ?-chaconine) smaller than 300 mg/kg of protein (Resolution OIV-OENO 557-2015);
- a revision of the monograph on tannins (Resolution OIV-OENO 554-2015). This modification concerns iron content which should be less than 50 mg/kg, with the exception of the iron content for tannins from chestnuts which was increased to 200 mg/kg;
- a revision of the monograph on casein (Resolution OIV-OENO 555-2015). This revision concerns the modification of the level of potassium carbonate and/or potassium hydrogen carbonate in the mixture of soluble caseins and the level of ashes, which should be less than 3% for acid casein and less than 23% for the acid casein and potassium carbonate, or potassium hydrogen carbonate, mixture.
- Specific methods for the analysis of grape sugars (rectified concentrated grape musts). These methods involve, in particular, the determination of meso-inositol, scyllo-inositol and sucrose through gas chromatography following silanisation (Resolution OIV-OENO 419C-2015) and the introduction of the Folin-Ciocalteu Index. Phenolic compounds of MCR are oxidised by the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and the blue colour produced is measured using spectrophotometry at 750 nm (Resolution OIV-OENO 419D-2015).
- Two methods were slightly modified. These were the section addressing the preparation of the sample for the method to determine the volatile acidity in wines (Resolution OIV-OENO 549-2015) and for the method to determine the total acidity in wine (Resolution OIV-OENO 551-2015).
- A method relating to the determination of the distribution of deuterium in acetic acid extracted from wine vinegar using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) (Resolution OIV-OENO 527-2015). This method makes it possible to analyse of isotopic ratio of hydrogen (D/H)CH3 of the methyl group of acetic acid extracted from wine vinegar. This method is based on the principle that the deuterium content in the sugar and water of the grape must is divided following fermentation into molecules of wine ethanol, and following acetic fermentation into molecules of acetic acid. This method also facilitates the determination of the origin of the alcohol in wine vinegars
- These involve guidelines for future research on the effects of the consumption of grapes or grape juice on health (Resolution OIV-SECSAN 429-2015). CONSIDERING that the consumption of fresh grapes and grape juice is a source of phenolic compounds, the OIV recommended that research include: 1/ the conducting of in vitro and in vivo studies on the effects of the consumption of grapes or grape juice on human health, such as the biochemical and physiological activities associated with chronic degenerative diseases; 2/ the development of human intervention studies to evaluate the impact of grape juice consumption on health; 3/ an assessment of whether the polyphenols, flavonoids and other grape-derived compounds act in synergistic effects on health; 4/ an evaluation of the antibacterial activity of grape polyphenols for pathogenic strains.
- Other guidelines for future research on the effects of wine consumption (Resolution OIV-SECSAN 463-2015) were also adopted. These include recommending the development of research: 1/ on the possible relationship between moderate wine consumption with meals and the decrease of the oxidative effects of ethanol; 2/ on carefully controlled and randomised studies in appropriate populations; 3/ to clarify the conditions under which light to moderate wine consumption may reduce the risk of death and certain diseases; 4/ to determine whether alcohol, phenolic compounds and other components of wine provide different protective effects in the body's cells, organs and tissues; and 5/ in relation to the diversity of consumer motivation.