News & Knowledge

In a recent decision, the Administrative Court of Trier has confirmed the obligation for vintners to provide sparkling wine bottles with a "traditional" foil covering around the cork and bottle neck.

Reasons for the decision of the VG Trier in detail:

Article 57(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) 2019/33 imposes an obligation on producers of (quality) sparkling wine with regard to the design of the closure of sparkling wine bottles with a foil and thus restricts their entrepreneurial freedom. However, this interference with the freedom of trade is justified in order to ensure fair competition between sparkling wine products or producers and to avoid deceiving consumers. If each producer were to choose its own type of "sealing", there would be a risk of a great variance in the appearance of sparkling wine tops, which could lead to confusion on the part of consumers as to the classification of the products or their comparability.

Moreover, the foil covering should underline the quality claim of products of the sparkling wine category. The focus is on securing the recognition value of products of the sparkling wine category in the sense of a kind of "brand protection" of the traditional presentation of these products. The type of glass bottle and sealing traditionally used for sparkling wines reflected traditional production and bottling methods, "even if a (second) look at the label would sufficiently inform the consumer of the fact 'sparkling wine'".

Furthermore, against the background of the high excess pressure prevailing in a sparkling wine bottle, the covering with foil also made a contribution - beyond the wire holder (agraffe) - to ensuring the secure closure of the sparkling wine bottle. In any case, the foil protects the agraffe from (invisible) manipulation or damage and the consumer who has a sparkling wine bottle with an intact foil in front of him can assume that the agraffe underneath has not been loosened in any way. The concerns of environmental protection were also sufficiently taken into account, since the term "foil" was already not legally defined, so that environmentally friendly, recyclable foils could also be used.

Judgement of the VG Trier: Art. 57 para. 1 subpara. 1 lit. a) Regulation (EU) 2019/33 imposes an obligation on producers of sparkling wine and quality sparkling wine with regard to the design of the closure of sparkling wine bottles and other sparkling wine bottles with a foil and thus - as in the case of the plaintiff - restricts their entrepreneurial freedom. However, this interference is justified due to the intended consumer protection against misleading and the protection of sparkling wine producers in terms of fair competition. The judgement is not yet legally binding.

Chain of standards: § 39 para. 2 sentences 1 and 2 LFGB, § 31 para. 1, para. 7, § 27 para. 1 WeinG

Own comment:

Even if the "tight corset" of the currently valid EU regulation probably does not allow the courts to make a relaxed decision away from the tried and tested and towards more environmental protection - this is where the European legislator is called upon - this ruling can be a further motivation for the industry to push ahead more quickly with the development of sustainable champagne films in particular (there are already initial attempts to develop films made from sugar cane and water-based ink for colouring the films without petroleum products). Various sustainable food packaging, such as compostable coffee capsules or the "Tetra" packaging, which has been greatly improved in terms of sustainability, can already serve as a model.