486 WINE LAW This Subsidiary Legislation provides further controls on any compulsory ageing, ageing in barriques, bottling and ageing in bottles (all deemed to be part of the vinification operations), which must be carried out within the territory of the region of production, that is, the whole region of the Maltese Islands. Moreover, the production of wine-making is expected to be produced “in conformity with European Community and National Laws.”21. There are specific detailed provisions related to certain information to be carried on the label, including the font to be adhered to, such as on the methods of grape-processing (i.e. “fermented in oak barrels”, “passito” and “imqadded”), the methods of vinification and ageing (i.e. “oak matured” and “aged on lees”, better known as “eleve sur lies”) and the use of adjectives such as “superior” and “riżerva”. There are also specifc criteria for the time before being ready to sell, for example, that for white typologies: the wine cannot be commercialised before 24 months and bottle-aged for a minimum of 6 months; whilst, in the case of red typologies, the wine cannot also be commercialised before 24 months, with a minimum ageing of 12 months in the barrique and bottle-aged for a minimum of 12 months, the use of by the winery, such as the name of a specific region or vineyard within the Maltese Islands, as well as the vintage year. There is an optional additional reference to “single vineyard” for quality wines only. The Subsidiary Legislation specifically and strictly prohibits the use of any additional qualifications on the labels except for references to the business and trademarks as long as they do not mislead the end-user22. 21 Ibid, Schedule 1, Article 7(2). 22 Ibid, Schedule 1, Article 9(3).
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