European Union
Quick Guide to Export Requirements
| Export Region | Wine Standards | Minimum Specification | Maximum Specification | Continuing Approval Application | Certificate of Origin | Other Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European Union | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | VI1 Certificate |
Standards
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Analytical Parameter | Minimum | Maximum |
| Alcoholic strength at 20°C - Total | ||
| Botrytis/Late harvest | – | 20% v/v |
| red or white fortified | 17.5% v/v | 20% v/v |
| Alcoholic strength at 20°C - Actual | ||
| Botrytis/Late Harvest | 4.5% | – |
| red or white | 4.5% v/v | – |
| fortified | 15% v/v | – |
| sparkling | 4.5% v/v | – |
| quality sparkling | 9.0% v/v | – |
| Citric acid | – | 1 g/L |
| Copper | – | 1 mg/L |
| L-ascorbic acid | – | 300 mg/L |
| Lead** | – | 0.2 mg/kg |
| Metatartaric acid | – | 100 mg/L |
| Ochratoxin A* | – | 2 μg/L |
| Residual sugar - other wines | ||
| dry# | – | 4 g/L or 9 g/L<sup>#</sup> |
| medium dry | 4 g/L | 12 g/L or 18g/L* |
| medium sweet | 12 g/L | 45 g/L |
| sweet | 45.1 g/L | – |
| Residual sugar sparkling wines - mandatory terms | ||
| brut nature | – | 3 g/L |
| extra brut | – | 6 g/L |
| brut | – | 15 g/L |
| extra dry | 12 g/L | 20 g/L |
| dry | 17 g/L | 35 g/L |
| medium dry | 35 g/L | 50 g/L |
| sweet | 50.1 g/L | – |
| Tartaric acid (added) | – | 4 g/L |
| Total acidity | ||
| with GI | 3.0 g/L | – |
| without GI | 3.5 g/L | – |
| Total dry extract % v/v | ||
| Percent v/v | – | Extract g/L |
| 0.00 - 13.0 | – | 90 |
| 13.0 - 15.0 | – | 130 |
| 15.0 - 18.0 | – | 130 |
| 18.0 - 22.0 | – | 330 |
| Sulfur dioxide (total) | ||
| red† | – | 150 mg/L or 200 mg/L |
| white and rose | – | 200 mg/L or 250 mg/L |
| sparkling | – | 235 mg/L |
| quality sparkling | – | 185 mg/L |
| fortified (< 5 g/L sugar) | – | 150 mg/L |
| fortified (> 5 g/L sugar) | – | 200 mg/L |
| botrytis/late harvest and wines > 35 g/L residual sugar | – | 300 mg/L |
| Volatile acidity Not applicable to fortified and sparkling | ||
| white and rose | – | 1.08 g/L |
| red | – | 1.1 g/L |
| botrytis/late harvest | – | 1.5 g/L |
** Applies to products produced from the 2001 fruit harvest onwards. (Excludes liquor wine) *
* Applies to products produced from the 2005 harvest onwards. (Excludes liquor wine) *
# A limit of 9 g/L applies where the total acidity in g/L (as tartaric acid) does not fall more than 2 g/L below the residual sugar content
† The increase of 50 ppm is only permissible when wines have a residual sugar (expressed as inverted sugar) of not less than 5 g/L.
The following countries are members of the European Union:
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany*
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom*
* These countries may, in some circumstances, have different specifications and require analyses over and above those required by the EU.
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The information represents the best state of our knowledge as at the date of information, but in many cases, we have relied on the provision of information from third parties, so the AWRI cannot guarantee this information is correct.
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Content last updated: December 2018