Wine: reforms to retained EU law

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) wants to know what you think about a plan to reform retained EU law related to wine. This is part of the smarter regulation programme.

We are proposing changes to the rules on:

• importer labelling
• hybrid grape varieties
• piquette (a lower-alcohol, fermented drink)
• blending wines
• foil wraps and mushroom stoppers
• wine certification arrangements
• bottle shapes
• methods of analysis and controls on enrichment
• ice wine
• approved oenological (winemaking) processes and methods of recognising and recording these
• transforming wine sector products in Great Britain

We also plan to consolidate domestic wine regulations and make other minor reforms to retained EU law.