The European Union (EU), accounting for almost half of the world’s vine- yards,1 is the largest wine-producing region in the world, responsible for over65% of annual wine production.2 It is also the global leader in both imports and exports of wine.3 Owing to the vast economic and commercial importance of the wine sector, it is heavily regulated in the EU. Since the 1960s, the EU has introduced more than two thousand regulations, directives and decisions on wine.4 The purpose of this regulatory activity has been to address a structural imbalance in the EU wine market. This imbalance stemmed from vast surplus-es of low-quality wines and made it necessary to distinguish quality wine from table wine.