(1)

Regulation (EU) 2021/2117 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) has amended Regulation (EU) No 251/2014.

(2)

In the context of that amendment, the list of ingredients and the nutrition declaration referred to in Article 9(1), points (b) and (l), respectively, of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3), were introduced as mandatory particulars in Article 6a of Regulation (EU) No 251/2014. Regulation (EU) 2021/2117 also empowered the Commission to adopt delegated acts supplementing Regulation (EU) No 251/2014 by further specifying the rules for the indication and designation of ingredients for the application of the new labelling requirement.

(3)

Although the relevant provisions of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 apply to the indication and designation of ingredients for aromatised wine products, it is appropriate to lay down specific rules that take into account certain specific characteristics of aromatised wine products and the peculiar processes and timing of their production, in view of providing consumers with comprehensive and accurate information. These rules should apply when the list of ingredients is provided on the aromatised wine product’s label, but also when the list of ingredients is provided by electronic means identified on the package or on a label attached thereto, in accordance with Article 6a(2) of Regulation (EU) No 251/2014.

(4)

Since aromatised wine products are always obtained from one or more of the grapevine products defined in points 1 to 11 of Part II of Annex VII to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4), it is appropriate to require that all the ingredients of the grapevine products used in the production of aromatised wine products are listed in accordance with the specific rules concerning the indication and designation of ingredients of grapevine products as laid down in Article 48a of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33 (5).

(5)

The ingredients of the grapevine products used as a base to obtain the aromatised wine product should be visually distinguished from the other ingredients added to them. The ingredients of the grapevine products should therefore be indicated within brackets, following the term ‘wine’ or another term identifying the specific grapevine products used, while all other ingredients added to the base grapevine products should appear outside of the brackets in descending order of volume or weight as recorded at the time of their use in the manufacture of the aromatised wine product, as provided for by Article 18(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011.

(6)

However, where certain ingredients are added to the base grapevine products used to obtain the aromatised wine product, specific rules should apply for their designation in the list of the ingredients.

(7)

For reasons of consistency with the rules on the indication of ingredients of grapevine products and in order to facilitate the understanding of consumers, it is appropriate to allow using the term ‘concentrated grape must’ to designate both concentrated grape must and rectified concentrated grape must where they are added to the grapevine products used to obtain the aromatised wine product.

(8)

Where sulphites/sulfites, eggs and egg-based products and/or milk and milk-based products are used in the production of aromatised wine products, they should be indicated on the label using the terms traditionally used in the labelling of grapevine products. Those allergens should be indicated within brackets where they are used in the production of the grapevine products, while they should appear outside of the brackets where they are added to the aromatised wine product before bottling.

(9)

For the same reason, it is appropriate to allow for aromatised wine products the use of the same pictograms illustrating sulphites/sulfites, eggs and egg-based products and/or milk and milk-based products as those that are used for grapevine products.

(10)

Where any other substances or products causing allergies or intolerances are added to an aromatised wine product before bottling, they are to be presented in accordance with Article 21(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011.

(11)

Where sulphites/sulfites, eggs and egg-based products and/or milk and milk-based products are both used in the base grapevine products and added to the aromatised wine product before bottling, they should be indicated only once on the package or on a label attached thereto following the term ‘contains’ if the full list of ingredients is provided by electronic means.

(12)

Certain additives used as packaging gases (carbon dioxide, argon and nitrogen) have as main objective the displacing of oxygen during the bottling of aromatised wine products, but they do not become part of the product that is consumed. As their indication in the list of ingredients may confuse consumers as to the true nature and composition of the aromatised wine product, it appears appropriate to replace them with a specific particular that describes their function by using the term ‘Bottled in a protective atmosphere’.

(13)

Due to the obligation to list the ingredients as from 8 December 2023 in accordance with Article 6, fifth paragraph, of Regulation (EU) 2021/2117, it is appropriate to allow the exhaustion of stocks of aromatised wine products which have been labelled in accordance with Article 6a(1), point (b), of Regulation (EU) No 251/2014 between 8 December 2023 and 18 February 2024.