According to a report in the local medium "L'Alsace", there is a two-month objection period before the National Institute for Origin and Quality (INAO) makes the final decision. Already in March 2022, the industry medium "Terre de Vins" had reported that a majority of about two-thirds had voted for such a regulation at the general meeting of the vintners' association "Association des viticulteurs d'Alsace" (AVA). This should apply to generic Rieslings as well as to all crus. The fact that the consumer does not clearly know whether a certain wine is dry or not was made out to be one of the main problems of the growing region.
In fact, it had already been decided at the end of 2021 to include a mandatory flavor statement on the labels for Alsace wines, based on EU law. Since then, there has been a lot of protests against the decision. One example is Pierre Gassmann from Domaine Rolly-Gassmann. He emphasized that it is not possible to produce dry Rieslings every year in certain sites "that advance into the plain, such as Rorschwihr or Bergheim, where you are on limestone or marl limestone". He was alluding to the high alcohol content that even semi-dry Alsace Rieslings from these sites sometimes reach in hot years.
If such criticism was not heard in the course of last year, it is unlikely that this will happen in the now two-month objection period. It is therefore safe to assume that the INAO will adopt the regulation and enter it in the specifications. VM
