Designation for higher quality wines that must meet specific minimum wine law requirements in each country. Within the EU, this is the highest quality level. As a rule, the lower level is the Landwein. In many wine producing countries there is a multi-level quality wine scheme (see under Grand Cru). For the EU member states there are predefined quality wine tests that are carried out by independent official bodies. In the case of a positive result/notification, the official test number is awarded in Germany and the state test number in Austria.
The EU wine market regulation, which came into force in August 2009, introduced an origin-oriented system with new wine designations in the member states. In Germany and Austria, quality wine and predicate wine correspond to the highest quality level wine PDO (wine with protected indication of origin). However, this new designation was banned in Austria to avoid consumer confusion (however, it is allowed for food). In Germany, its use was prohibited until the end of 2011. The old terms Qualitätswein and Prädikatswein have been retained in both countries as "traditional indications" and are still valid. See in detail under Quality System.
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