Wine

Codex Definition

Wine is the most regulated agricultural product on earth. In the European Union alone, wine law runs to thousands of pages — governing which grape varieties may be grown in which regions, what yields are permitted, how the wine must be made, how it must be labelled, what it can and cannot be called. Outside the EU, comparable national GI frameworks govern wine production in the United States (AVA system), Australia (GI Register), South Africa (Wine of Origin scheme), Argentina, Chile, and increasingly, China.

The international framework is set by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), headquartered in Paris, which establishes global standards for oenological practices, definitions, and terminology — adopted by member countries and used as the reference framework for international wine trade agreements. The OIV's International Code of Oenological Practices is the primary international reference document for wine production standards.

This codex documents every major wine-producing region globally — from the most legally complex (Burgundy's 1,247 individual Premier and Grand Cru climat designations) to the newest (Chinese appellations emerging under the GB/T classification). Each entry is sourced directly from the relevant national or regional appellation authority.