Poli Museo della Grappa

Poli Grappa Museum

Poli Distillerie

Poli Distillerie




The laws on Grappa

The laws on Grappa

The regulations on the production and marketing of Grappa are as follows: 

•    the EU Regulation 787/2019 dated 17/04/2019 published in the Official Journal of the European Union concerning the definition, designation, presentation and labeling of spirit drinks, the use of the names of spirit drinks in the presentation and in the labeling of other food products, as well as the protection of geographical indications for spirit drinks and the use of ethyl alcohol and distillates of agricultural origin in alcoholic beverages.it establishes all the parameters allowing the distillate of marc to be called Grappa;

•    Presidential Decree no. 297 dated 16/07/1997: regulation with provisions regarding the product and sale of spirits, Grappa, Italian Brandy and Liqueurs;

•    art. 16 of Ministerial Decree no. 153 dated 27/03/2001: this decree gives the provisions for manufacturers and holders of distillation apparatus; 

•    Ministry of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts circular no. 163 of 20 November 1998: it contains the provisions for application of Regulation (EEC) no. 1576/89, regarding alcoholic beverages, and Presidential Decree no. 297/97. 

•    the application for registration of the Geographical Indications (IG) Grappa from Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Alto Adige, Trentino, Lombardia, Piemonte and Sicilia were published in the Official Gazette, dated 2014-2017.


Regulation (EC) no. 110/2008, regarding the definition, designation, presentation, labelling and protection of the geographic indications of alcoholic beverages was approved on 15 January 2008. The European Regulation establishes clear definitions for all alcoholic beverages and aims to help producers market their products, offering greater clarity for consumers. It came into force on 20 May 2008, defining clearly and once and for all the basic concept dearest to Italian distillers, namely, that Grappa is exclusively an Italian distillate.

The decrees approving the technical sheets for Grappa and italian Brandy were signed in August 2011.

On 17 April 2019 the new EU Regulation 787/2019 was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. This Regulation repeals the previous regulation (EC) n. 110/2008.

In the two-year period 2019-2020, important international agreements were reached with the aim of protecting the Geographical Indication of Grappa: UE - Mercosur, 2019; UE - China, 2019; UE - Singapore, 2020; UE - Mexico, 2020; UE-Vietnam, 2020.

 

However, the road to obtain the recognition of IG Grappa worldwide is still long: in fact, the countries that do not belong to the European Union and that have not yet ratified bilateral agreements to that effect could use with impunity the term "Grappa" to define a local marc spirit, with serious damage to the authentic Italian Grappa.