Geographical protection of dry, ruby red Cvicek

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of the Republic of Slovenia, on the basis of the Act on wine and other products from grapes and wine, has issued Regulations on wine with the mark of the recognised traditional appellation Cvicek, whereby the production and trade in Cvicek or grapes and must intended for processing into the wine Cvicek, are regulated. Similar regulations will shortly be prepared for the wine Teran.

As State Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food (MKGP), Franc But, stressed, Cvicek together with the above mentioned regulations will also be the subject of negotiations between Slovenia and the European Union.

The Regulations on Cvicek, among other things determine that grapes for Cvicek shall only be produced within the wine growing district of Dolenjska in specifically defined wine growing locations. Cvicek is made from red and white sorts of grapes, and has the character of a red wine: under the Regulations, the proportion of red sorts must amount to at least 65%, and white at least 25%. Under the Regulations, Cvicek is "dry, still, ruby red, with a fruity flavour and mild tannin taste, without pronounced characteristics of sort". Cvicek contains from 8.5 to 10% alcohol, and the minimum level of natural alcohol must be 8%.

Before Cvicek is sold, it must be assessed by an organisation authorised to test wine, and it may only be traded for a maximum of two and a half years after the harvesting of the grapes from which it is made. Unbottled wine may be traded for a maximum of one year and a half, and must be marked Cvicek - recognised traditional appellation, wine growing district of Dolenjska, or Dolenjska for short. Until 8 November 2000, the old regulations may be used for Cvicek of last year's or older vintage.

According to State Secretary But, both in the field of wine and other products of the food processing industry, the preparation of many statutory regulations for the protection of origin of Slovene wines and products still awaits Slovenia.

For all products except wine, Slovenia thus wishes to derive protection in compliance with the directives of the EU in two forms: protection of traditional reputation and geographic origin of products. In the first case, these are products made in a traditional manner in specific regions. Geographic origin of products protects them on two levels; in the first form as protection of specific methods of making products and products from a specific area, and the other, stricter forms of protection protect products made in a specific way from a specific region, which must also be produced from raw materials from a specified region. On this basis, Slovenia will be able to make a list which it will propose to Brussels and on the basis of the appropriate procedure will notify the cited names and thus include them in the legal order of the EU. At present, only Cvicek and Teran are on this list.

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