Former French wine quality level Landwein (pays = country), which was one quality level below quality wines (AOC, now AOP). With the EU wine market regulation that came into effect in August 2009, it was replaced by the new term IGP = "Indication Géographique Protégée", which in German corresponds to the new level g.g.A. = "geschützte geographische Angabe" (see also detailed information under quality system). The old designation Vin de pays could be used on a transitional basis until the 2013 vintage. From the 2014 vintage onwards, only IGP was permitted.
In total there were about 150 Vins de pays in France. About 85% of them came from the huge Midi area in the south of France. The production share was about 20%, the majority were red wines. There were regional, départemental and local vins de pays. This structure was essentially retained during the conversion to IGP and many of the appellations also remained identical. The regional VDP areas covered several départements or regions. The 94 local (zonal) VDP areas covered individual or several municipalities.
![]()
wein.plus is a handy, efficient guide to a quick overview of the colourful world of wines, winegrowers and grape varieties. In Wine lexicon, the most comprehensive of its kind in the world, you will find around 26,000 keywords on the subject of grape varieties, wineries, wine-growing regions and much more.
Roman Horvath MW
Domäne Wachau (Wachau)