46 WINE LAW exclusively from that geographical area; (iii) its production takes place in that geographical area; and (iv) it is obtained from vine varieties belonging to Vitis vinifera or a cross between the Vitis vinifera species and other species of the genus Vitis”. For a more meaningful discussion, we will contrast the above definition with both the concept of geographical indication of agricultural products and foodstuffs as articulated by the horizontal Regulation and the wine designation of origin that the European law contains in the previous paragraph within the same article 93(1). Regulation No 479/2008 defined a concept of wine geographical indication – which passed onto Regulation No 1308/2013 – far-removed from the ones established the horizontal Regulations that came before it in 1992 and 2005, intending to cover a wide spectrum of notions. The really conflicting wording may not be the substitution of “a specific quality” – which characterises DOs – for “quality”, nor is it the requirement of a specific vine variety. The great leap is in the fact that the “general” concept of geographical indication does not require (as we have just discussed) that any of the production stages should be necessarily carried out in the geographical area defined by the indication, whereas wine indications do stipulate that the raw material that would be transformed into wine (grape) should originate mostly – at least 85% – in the geographical area defined; additionally, processing should be carried out in that same area. We should note that those requirements – albeit slightly measured – do relate to designations of origin. The inherent peculiarities of wine, distinct from all other products, may not have to bring with them that the protection of a particular feature that connects the product to a geographical area should impose such requirements on raw materials and place of preparation. However, if that is the case, should we not stop applying the protection afforded by the geographical indication on wine? Anyhow, the divide that the Regulation defined between designations and indications is most blurry. If the disparity between those notions, as far as the connection with the geographical origin is concerned, as defined in the horizontal Regulation, is almost imperceptible, it is even more so in the CMO Regulation for wine. We have already discussed that the great disparity between them lays in the fact that the DOs stipulated that all production stages should take place in the geographical area defined, whereas, in the case of GIs, one of them being carried out in said area would suffice. By contrast, if 85% of grapes come from that area
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