Grape product is not wine

Queen’s Bench

Regina (Sovio Wines Ltd) v Food Standards Agency and Another

A grape product could be made subject to a movement control notice preventing its distribution if it had been labelled as wine but had been produced using an alcohol reduction technology that was not approved by the European Union.

Mrs Justice Dobbs so held in the Queen’s Bench Division on March 2, 2009, in dismissing the claim of Sovio Wines Ltd for judicial review of the decision of the Food Standards Agency, of September 27, 2007, to issue a movement control notice prohibiting distribution of 3,119 cases of grape product and in dismissing Sovio’s claim against the decision of Mr Richard Perkins, on November 30, 2007, to uphold the agency’s decision on review.

HER LADYSHIP said that Conetech, a California company, owned a significant share of the claimant company. It pioneered the spinning cone column technique which was able to reduce the level of alcohol in wine without comprising the natural aroma or flavour.

The system had yet to receive approval in the EU as a wine making process. It was the method used in the manufacture of the Sovio product which was labelled “Sovio Rosado/ Blanco Naturally light; softly sparkling 200ml 8% vol 2006 Seco DB Wines”.

The product used an unauthorised process and the alcohol content was not in conformity with specifications for aerated semi-sparkling wine. Sovio presented itself as a wine when it was not. It was not allowed to present itself in that way.