France welcomes new PGI - Terres du Midi

t a meeting on 5 July, the National PGI Committee at INAO adopted the new regional PGI Terres du Midi by a very large majority: 25 members voted in favour, only one voted against and two abstained. The vote is the penultimate stage in a laborious process initiated in 2015 by René Moreno, chairman of the Hérault PGI federation and aimed at revitalising the departmental PGI market.

1.5 million hl within 5 years

The idea is to group together existing volumes under the same designation to provide more consistent supplies for branded wine markets. The PGI Terres du Midi, which will be exclusively used for blended wines, will be produced in the four departments of Gard, Hérault, Aude and Pyrénées-Orientales. Its maximum yield is set at 120 hl/ha. The departmental PGIs are maintained, but the objective, at least for the Aude and Hérault PGIs, is to gradually switch volumes to Terres du Midi. "We are very satisfied with this outcome and are now waiting for the Minister of Agriculture to sign the approval order for our specifications. 2018 will therefore be the first vintage of Terres du Midi. We will now work with the trade to ensure good price points for the PGI, which will be positioned between non-IG wines and PGI Pays d'Oc. We aim to produce 1.5 million hl within 3 to 5 years," said Ludovic Roux, chairman of the Terres du Midi producers’ organisation.