The “Vin de Paille de Corrèze” AOC has been authorized and confirmed by the Council of State

Last August, in a previous article, we discussed the dispute between Corrèze and the Jura over the “vin de paille” designation. For several years now, the Jura Wine Growers’ Association and the Corrèze Wine Federation have been at odds over the use of this term. An initial ruling by the Council of State in 2014 sided with the Jura producers by prohibiting the use of “vin paillé” on bottles from Corrèze. Following this, winemakers in this department of Nouvelle-Aquitaine created an AOC to produce it legally. However, this appellation was also contested by Jura professionals, who filed a petition with the Council of State seeking its annulment. After weeks of waiting, a verdict in favor of the Corrèze producers was handed down on Thursday, November 7, 2019, thereby putting an end—in theory—to this dispute.

A designation deemed to comply with the European definition of straw wine

A few days ago, the Council of State therefore ruled that the Corrèze AOC, established in 2017, met the criteria set forth in the European regulation and that its prior use—which was also contested by Jura producers—was sufficient. According to AFP, the Council of State ruled that “the Jura Wine Growers’ Association has no grounds to seek the annulment of the decree it is challenging.” Consequently, the label “vin de paille” is authorized on bottles of sweet wines from Corrèze. A decision applauded by the Corrèze Wine Federation and its president, Jean Mage, who explains that “people will be able to invest in this new AOC because until now, it was still uncertain.” He also hopes that this ruling will help boost sales and attract new winemakers to offset retirements.

A decision that has upset the Jura Winegrowers' Association

For the Jura Wine Growers’ Association, this ruling of November 7, 2019, is not good news. The very next day, it stated that it was “stunned,” “very surprised,” and did not understand it. Its president, Nicolas Caire, also specified that they would look into whether they could defend themselves at the European level, noting that “the public rapporteur had requested the annulment.” He also added that “the straw wine“Historically, it’s here, not in Corrèze,” he said, hoping that consumers won’t be fooled. Nevertheless, thanks to this decision, Corrèze, which produces 50,000 bottles of sweet wine each year (compared to 200,000 in the Franche-Comté department), will be able to include the term “vin de paille” on its labels.