New wine labelling for English and Welsh wines

The United Kingdom Vineyards Association (UKVA) has unveiled the new wine schemes for English and Welsh still wines.

The main purpose of the scheme is to deliver assurance to the consumer that wines are produced to required standards and reflect the specific characteristics attributable to the wine's geographical origin.

So in line with the new EU wine labelling regime UK wine labelling will now carry the terms PDO Protected Designation of Origin and PGI Protected Geographical Indication.

Producers that opt out of putting their wines through the scheme may still use the term English (or Welsh) Wine on their labels but other information will be restricted. The term Table wine has now disappeared.

So simply speaking this new labelling assures the customer that their wine is of good quality and is made from grapes grown in England or Wales.

A new scheme for sparkling wines will be introduced later this year.