Development of the Hungarian wine industry is fundamentally affected by the new legal regulations arising from the Community Wine Market Reform, which introduced three universal wine categories in the European Union. Due to the structure of the Lake Balaton Wine Region, 99% of the wine made here will be market with the place of origin. To use these designations, product descriptions must be prepared. Making these product descriptions raises the issue of re-thinking geographical designations to make them compatible with the Community concept. By turning ‘Balatoni’ into protected geographical indication, a regional wine category could be created, while a large portion of producers could keep their high degree of independence. Based on this, the current categories (quality wine produced in specified region, protected designation of origin) should be limited to special local products, based on strict growing and processing standards. The wine reform also raises the issue of clear and identifiable separation of vineyard stretches, which has not yet been done in this wine region.
Összefoglaló