AOC "vin de paille de Corrèze" authorized and confirmed by the Conseil d'Etat

Last August, in a previous article, we reported on the dispute between Corrèze and Jura over the vin de paille appellation. For several years now, the Jura Viticultural Society and the Corrèze Wine Federation have been at odds over the use of this term. An initial ruling by the Conseil d'Etat in 2014 vindicated the Jura producers, prohibiting the labelling of "vin paillé" on Corrèze bottles. Following this ruling, winegrowers in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of France created an AOC to legally produce this wine. However, this appellation was also contested by professionals from the Jura region, who petitioned the Conseil d'Etat to have it annulled. After weeks of waiting, a verdict, favorable to the Corréziens, was handed down on Thursday November 7, 2019, putting an end - normally - to this quarrel.

An appellation that complies with the European definition of straw wine

A few days ago, the Conseil d'Etat ruled that the Corrèze AOC, created in 2017, met the criteria set out in the European regulation, and that its anteriority - also contested by Jura producers - was sufficient. According to AFP, the Conseil d'Etat ruled that "the Société de viticulture du Jura has no grounds for requesting the annulment of the decree it is challenging". As a result, the label "vin de paille" ("straw wine") may now be affixed to bottles of sweet Corrèze wines. A decision applauded by the Corrèze wine federation and its president, Jean Mage, who explains that "people will be able to invest in this new AOC, because until now, it was uncertain". He also hopes that the green label will boost sales and attract new winegrowers to compensate for retirements.

A decision that displeases the Jura Viticultural Society

For the Société de viticulture du Jura, this November 7, 2019 ruling is not good news. The very next day, it said it was "stunned", "very surprised" and did not understand it. The company's president, Nicolas Caire, pointed out that they would be looking to see if they could defend themselves at European level, recalling that "the public rapporteur was asking for the case to be annulled". He also added that "the straw wineI hope that consumers won't be fooled by the fact that "historically, it's here, not in Corrèze". Nevertheless, thanks to this decision, Corrèze, which produces 50,000 bottles of liquoreux each year (compared with 200,000 in the Franche-Comté department), will be able to use the "vin de paille" label on its wines.