The government adopted a new wine bill last week which, according to Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Marija Lukacic, will boost the competitiveness of Slovenian wineries whilst also ensuring consumer protection.
One of the centrepieces of the bill is a cut in the number of wine regions from 14 to 8 (Goriska brda, Vipavska Valley, Karst, Slovenian Istria, Dolenjsko, Bela krajina, Prekmurje, Stajersko) and the determination of three wine countries - Primorsko, Posavje and Podravje.
The aim of reducing the number of winegrowing regions is to raise competitiveness, Lukacic told the press in Ljubljana on Tuesday. "Under the present system, almost every winery was its own winegrowing region and the grapes cannot be sold in other regions."
Another important novelty is the introduction of Romance designation of origin, According to Lukacic, this means that winegrowers can draw up a document which determines the region, sort, technology and character of the wine under a certain name, and market it under that name.
Moreover, there will be "traditional terms" which would be easier to understand for non-Slovenian consumers. For example, the term "vrhunsko vino" (supreme wine) will be replaced with "eminentno vino".
According to Lukacic, the wine bill, which is in compliance with EU regulations, also defines vineyards where it is prohibited to grow self-propagated varieties; changes the thresholds for natural alcohol content; and envisages an independent winery inspection.
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