GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS AND DESIGNATIONS OF ORIGIN 67 GIs. The former are “names which identify a product (a) originating in a specific place, region or, in exceptional cases, a country; (b) whose quality or characteristics are essentially or exclusively due to a particular geographical environment with its inherent natural and human factors; and (c) the production steps of which all take place in the defined geographical area”. While the others are “names which identify a product: (a) originating in a specific place, region or country; (b) whose given quality, reputation, or other characteristic is essentially attributable to its geographical origin; and (c) at least one of the production steps of which takes place in the defined geographical area”. From their legal definitions, it is easy to understand that the difference between them mainly consists of a different degree of connection of the product with the territory: deeper and with stricter requirements for designations of origin and more elastic one in the case of geographical indications. Indeed, DOs strictly require that all the necessary productive steps shall be carried out in the relevant geographical area, whereas GIs require only one productive step in the relevant region. Moreover, article 93 of Regulation (EU) No. 1308/2013 specifically refers to designations of origin and geographical indications in the wine sector, introducing different requirements from the provision mentioned above. In particular, wine Protected Designations of Origin (PDOs) shall be obtained from grapes coming from the same geographic area and from vine varieties belonging to Vitis vinifera. In contrast, wine Protected Geographical Indication (PGIs) shall be obtained from grapes coming (at least 85%) from the same geographical area and obtained from vine varieties belonging to Vitis vinifera, or a cross between the Vitis vinifera species and other species of the genus Vitis. As such, the entire production of wine PGIs shall take place in the same geographic area, which seems to be a stricter requirement comparatively to other PGIs. Finally, it is worth mentioning that 15% of grapes, which may come from a different geographic area, shall originate from the State in which the protected geographical area is included. The analytical regulation, at EU level, depends on the awareness that wine sector constitutes a strategic asset for the entire Union and that the enhancement of the unique characteristics of historical and qualitative productions, such as the Italian, French and Spanish ones, will certainly help the promotion abroad and the export, protecting, at the same time, consumers’ interests. Moreover, it should be mentioned that Eastern Europe countries also have increasingly prestigious wine productions, in particular Bulgaria. At the national level, GIs and DOs are ruled by Law Decree No. 61, of 8 April 2010, and defined by the recent Law No. 238, of 12 December 2016, known as Consolidated Law on Wine. These provisions, in terms of legal
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