Under current French and European regulations, varieties of vine propagating material must be registered in the national catalogue of at least one Member State in order to be marketed in the EU. This requirement concerns rootstock varieties (resistant to phylloxera) and fruit varieties, regardless of the end use of the grapes: wine, table, certified (plants exclusively reserved for planting in amateur gardens and products intended for the producer’s personal use), for the preparation of fruit juice or spirits, for dried fruit or conservation. Certain “mixed” varieties can have several end uses (table and wine varieties in particular).
Since the beginning of 2018, the French catalogue of Vine Varieties has two distinct lists:
List A = varieties whose propagating material may be produced and marketed in France and all Member States of the EU.
List B = varieties whose propagating material may be produced in France and marketed exclusively in third (non-EU).
Up until this date the catalogue contained 3 lists, list A1 for vine varieties whose plants can be marketed in the EU and which are eligible for classification, list A2 for vine varieties whose plants can be marketed in the EU but are not eligible for classification, and list B.
Classification concerns wine varieties registered in at least one EU catalogue. This procedure is a fundamental part of EU regulation of the wine sector of the common market organisation (CMO). It is implemented by each Member State under conditions defined by the Member State. This classification specifies the list of varieties authorised to be planted for the purposed of wine production. In France, this unique classification is established by the Ministry of Agriculture for all vines across the country.
FranceAgriMer is a certifying organisation of vine propagating material and publishes the French Vine Catalogue on its website. The lists published also include the classification of wine varieties.
Register a variety in the French Catalogue