I{T Wines Production Protocols Regulations, 2007

Suppliment tal-Gazzetta tal-Gvern ta’ Malta, Nru. 18,094, 28 ta’ Gunju, 2007

L.N. 167 of 2007

WINE ACT

(CAP. 436)

I{T Wines Production Protocols Regulations, 2007

IN exercise of the powers conferred by articles 12(1) and 27 of

the Wine Act and regulation 11(5) of the Denomination of Origin and

of Geographic Indications Regulations, the Minister for Rural Affairs

and the Environment has made the following regulations:-

(1) The title of these regulations is the I.{.T. Wines Citation and

commencement.

Production Protocols Regulations, 2007.

(2) These regulations shall be deemed to have come into force

on the 1st May, 2007.

In these regulations, unless already defined in the Act, the Interpretation.

following words and phrases shall have the following meanings

"the Act" means the Wine Act;

"the Minister" means the Minister responsible for agriculture;

"the Unit" means the office responsible for viticulture and

oenology.

The Unit is hereby designated as the competent office for Designation of

enforcing these regulations and for the certification of the prescribed competency.

I.{.T. wines .

(1) Certification shall be awarded by the Unit following an Certification of

official request, made in writing, from the wine producer concerned wines.

and after the Unit has carried out the necessary technical and

administrative checks to verify that the wines produced conform to

the relevant protocol.

(2) Wines shall only be certified as "MALTESE ISLANDS"

I.{.T. wines if the protocol in Schedule I is fully respected.

Schedule I

Production Protocol of the "Maltese Islands" I.{.T. Wines

Article 1 - Geographical Indication.

1.1 The geographic indication (GI) "MALTESE ISLANDS" shall be

reserved to the wines that satisfy all the conditions specified in this protocol.

1.2) The geographic indication "MALTESE ISLANDS" may be substituted

by "OF THE MALTESE ISLANDS".

Article 2 - Oenological Typologies.

2.1 The geographical indication shall be reserved only for the following

typologies of wine

(a)

Red;

(b)

White;

(c)

Rosé;

(d)

Varietal: with a specification of a variety listed in article 4.

2.2 The typologies of article 2.1 may be complemented with the

specification: "Novello", "Frizzante", "Semi-Sparkling" or "Aerated Semi-

Sparkling", and "Liqueur Wine", under the conditions established in this protocol

and, where applicable, as defined in Annex I of Council Regulation (EC) 1493/99.

Article 3 - Demarcation of the region of grape production.

3. The delimitation of the production region of grapes for I.{.T.

"MALTESE ISLANDS" shall be the whole region of the Maltese Islands with the

exclusion of the harbour area in the Island of Malta as detailed in the scaled map

attached as Annex I. The harbour area is defined in Annex III.

Article 4 - Ampelographic scope.

4.1 The "MALTESE ISLANDS" I.{.T. wines shall be produced from

grapes harvested in the region described in article 3. The "MALTESE ISLANDS"

I.{.T. Red, White and Rosé wine typologies may be obtained from one or more of

the grape varieties listed in the Classification of Vine Varieties (Production of

Wine Grapes) Regulations, 2006 - Legal Notice 188 of 2006.

4.2 A mono-varietal mention may be used if the said wine contains a

minimum 85% of the grape variety to be mentioned. The remaining 15% may be

derived from non-aromatic grapes having the same I.{.T. typology.

Article 5 - Method of cultivation.

The environmental and cultivation methods in vineyards used for the

production of wines listed in article 2 must be according to the traditional practices

of the demarcated region described in article 3.

Article 6 - Yield limits of finished wine ready for consumption.

1 The maximum production of wine per hectare allowed for the

production of "MALTESE ISLANDS" I.{.T. wines in hl/ha of selected vineyards

is as follows

•

125 hl/ha for all varieties used in the White and Rosé typologies

with or without a mono-varietal mention;

•

120 hl/ha for all varieties used in the Red typologies with or

without a mono-varietal mention.

6.2 The Director may establish a maximum limit of production which may

be superior or inferior to that fixed in this production protocol, on the advice of the

Wine Regulation Board and the interested producers’ organisations, from year to

year, before the harvest, taking into account the climatic conditions.

Article 7 - Vinification Protocols.

Region of vinification

1 Vinification operations, ageing, and bottling and ageing in bottles shall

be carried out within the territory of the region of production referred to in article

3.

7.2 For the production of "MALTESE ISLANDS" I.{.T. wines in all

typologies, the above operations may also be carried out in the following regions

in close proximity

1. Malta Harbour area

Article 8 - Minimum Alcoholic strengths.

1 Minimum Potential Natural Alcohol Strength of grapes.

For the production of the "MALTESE ISLANDS" I.{.T. wines, with or

without a varietal mention, all the grape varieties, except for Girgentina and

{ellew\a, must guarantee a minimum natural alcoholic strength of

•

0% for the White and Rosè typologies;

•

10.5% for the Red typologies.

For the production of the "MALTESE ISLANDS" I.{.T. wines, with or

without a varietal mention, the Girgentina and {ellew\a grape varieties must

guarantee a minimum natural alcoholic strength of

•

9.5% for use in all wine typologies except the "Liqueur" wine

typology.

Notwithstanding all the limits described above, the Director may however, on

the advice of the Wine Regulation Board and the interested producers’

organisations, from year to year, before the harvest, taking into account the

climatic conditions, establish limits of minimum natural alcoholic strengths which

may be 0.5% less than those fixed above.

8.2 Minimum Total Alcoholic Strength of finished Wine ready for

consumption.

For the production of the "MALTESE ISLANDS" I.{.T. wines, with or

without a varietal mention, the minimum Total Alcoholic Strength of finished wine

ready for consumption must be

•

10.5% for all the White and Rosè typologies;

0% for all the Red typologies except the {ellew\a mono-

•

varietal typology;

10.5% for the {ellew\a mono-varietal typology.

•

Article 9 - Qualification.

9.1 With regards to labelling, designation and presentation of the wines

referred to in article 1, the use of any additional qualification which is not allowed

by this protocol is strictly forbidden. This includes the use of adjectives such as,

but not limited to, "extra", "fine", "superior" and "similar". Nevertheless the use of

indications which refer to names, business, private trade marks are permitted on

condition that they do not have a significance aimed at praising the product and

that they do not mislead the consumer.

Article 10 - General provision.

10.1 Community law shall apply in cases where this protocol does not

explicitly indicate otherwise.

ANNEX I

1:160000 scale map of the Maltese Islands demarcating the borders delimiting the

region of grape production falling under the {I "MALTESE ISLANDS" (with the

exclusion of the harbour area)

ANNEX II

Key of Local Councils

Code

Locality

Code

Locality

Valletta

Ker`em

Mdina

Kirkop

Birgu

Lija

Isla

Luqa

Bormla

Marsa

Qormi

Marsaskala

|ebbu[

Marsaxlokk

|abbar

Mellie]a

Si[[iewi

M[arr

|ejtun

Mosta

Rabat (Victoria)

Mqabba

Attard

Msida

Balzan

Munxar

Birkirkara

Nadur

Bir\ebbu[a

Naxxar

Dingli

Paola

Fgura

Pembroke

Floriana

Pietà

Fontana

Qala

Gudja

Qrendi

G\ira

Rabat

G]ajnsielem

Safi

San {iljan

G]arb

San {wann

G]arg]ur

G]asri

San Lawrenz

G]axaq

San Pawl il-Ba]ar

}amrun

Sannat

Iklin

Santa Lu`ija

Kalkara

Santa Venera

Code

Locality

Code

Code

Sliema

Xewkija

Swieqi

Xg]ajra

|ebbu[

Ta' Xbiex

(G]awdex)

|urrieq

Tarxien

Xag]ra

Mtarfa

ANNEX III

Councils making up the Harbour Area

Code

Locality

Valletta

Birgu

Isla

Bormla

Floriana