Article 1: Organisers

The purpose of the Millésime Bio trade fair wine competition, organised by the AIVB-LR, is to encourage the promotion of wines produced from organically grown grapes, as defined by amended current EEC regulations.

Article 2: Products concerned

This competition is open only for wines produced from grapes that have been certified as being organically grown and belonging to one of the following categories:

• Vintage-dated table wines from an identified geographical location (vins de pays)
• Vintage-dated VQPRD (AOVDQS and AOC) wines
• Imported vintage-dated still wines from an identified geographical location
• Sparkling wines, quality sparkling wines and quality sparkling wines produced in a specific region
• Sparkling wines and carbonated sparkling wines from other countries

Table wines may enter the competition but may not issue communications on any awards obtained.

To enter the competition, wines must be ready for sale and comply with current regulations in Europe and in the country of origin (in France, this means INAO accreditation for VQPRDwines and VINIFLHOR accreditation for Vins de Paysand compliance with accreditation procedures in force for the type of wine entering the competition); certificate of compliance with the organic farming production mode in accordance with the regulations governing organic production farming practice currently in force (EEC 2092/91), issued by an approved certification body and bearing regulation labelling.

Article 3: Entrants

Those permitted to enter wines into the competition are grower-producers, wine cooperatives, cooperative unions, groups of producers, producer-merchants and merchant-maturers. Wines must come from an homogeneous batch that is available for sale, in quantities of at least 1,000 litres for red, white and rosé still wines and 100 litres for fortified, naturally sweet (VDN) and sparkling wines and “vins de paille”. Winesmust come from clearly identified batches.

Article 4: Entrants’ undertaking

All competition entrants undertake to respect and comply with all articles in these rules and to provide all information and documents requested on the entry form.

Article 5: Registration

For registrations to be taken into consideration, each entrant must:

- Pay the relevant registration fee for every product entered. These fixed sum, one-off fees are set annually by the AIVB-LR and indicated on the entryform;

- Supply three bottles containing at least 50 cl of each wine entered. If the wine receives an award, one of these bottles will be kept for a year with its certificate of analysis and will remain available to control services.

- Provide all required registration documents: operator’s annual licence issued by the relevant certifying body (in France, this may be Ecocert, Qualité France, Ulase, Agrocert, Aclave or IGS-ICS), the certificate of compliance with organic farming practices for the grapes harvested in the year of the wine, issued by the certifying body (in France, this may be Ecocert, Qualité France, Ulase, Agrocert, Aclave or IGS-ICS), 2 labels per sample, the results of analysis at the time of bottling, entry form and a cheque to cover the registration fee.

The analysis report must accompany the sample. Besides information making it possible to identify the sample, the report must also indicate density/specific gravity, actual alcohol content and strength, total acidity, volatile acidity and total sulphur dioxide, as well as the carbon dioxide pressure for sparkling wines. This report may be the one that was submitted for the purposes of the wine’s accreditation if dated within the last twelve months.

Article 6: Delivery of samples

Wine samples are to be sent directly by each entrant, at their own expense, to the address specified by the AIVB-LR.

Article 7: Tasting

Samples will be tasted by a panel of judges formed by the AIVB-LR and comprising oenologists, journalists, qualified special guests, wine merchants, specialist retailers, vintners, sommeliers, etc. Each panel of judges will comprise at least three people, two of whom will be chosen from the wine trade. Samples are to be entered anonymously and classed by category. Categories will be formed by the AIVB-LR and will contain at least three wines from different operators. Entrants may not judge any of their own wines in the competition. Tasting will be ‘blind’. Scores are noted according to a point system making it possible to classify competition wines according to their intrinsic value.

Article 8: Awards

Each panel of judges will award gold, silver and bronze medals. The total number of medals in a category will, at most, be a third of the number of wines in that category. The panel of judges will be able to make a special award to one or several wines having obtained a gold medal. This best of show award (“Mention Spéciale“) will be given to what is considered to be the best wine in the competition. At the end of the competition, the organisers will issue a diploma for each wine that has received an award, which will mention the nature of the award, the identity of the wine, the declared volume and the name and address of the award winner.

Article 9: Disagreement and disputes

Any practical difficulties encountered in the application or interpretation of these competition rules will be subject to the AIVB-LR’s final decision. In the event of a dispute, the AIVB-LR will form a review board made up of suitably-qualified members (subject to their agreement - INAO, VINIFLHOR, and an organic farming certifying body). The members of any such review board will depend on the nature of the dispute. In the event of a doubt about the origin or authenticity of a product, the wines concerned will be excluded from the competition.

Article 10: Promotion

All award-winners agree to allow the AIVB-LR to publish their name and any information provided in their technical details without it entitling the aforesaid award-winners to claim any other rights.