Vin Délimité De Qualité Supérieure

Vin délimité de qualité supérieure ("delimited wine of superior quality"), usually abbreviated as VDQS, was the second highest category of French wine, below ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) in rank, but above ''vin de pays'' (country wine).Wines of France: Understand French wine categories
accessed on May 13, 2008 VDQS was sometimes written as AOVDQS, with AO standing for ''appellation d'origine''. VDQS wines were subject to restrictions on yield and vine variety, among others.

There were relatively few VDQS as they typically moved on to AOC status after a number of years. VDQS therefore represented a small part of overall French wine production. In 2005, VDQS wines made up 0.9% of volume amounting from 409,472 hectoliters of production.INAO statistics of vineyard surfaces and production volumes for the 2005-2006 campaign
accessed on May 26, 2008 42.3% of the VDQS wines produced in that year were white, with the remaining 57.7% being either red or rosé.

The VDQS category was eliminated altogether in 2011,
/ref> with remaining VDQS wines either moving to AOC status or to the EU-governed '' protected geographical indication'' (French: indication géographique protégée) status.

History

The VDQS category was created in 1949 to fill the gap between the categories ''Vin de pays'' (VdP) and AOC, the most prestigious with correspondingly demanding requirements. Typically, VDQS was a stepping stone to full AOC status, and unlike VdP covered local rather than regional areas.

When Algeria was still a French colony, a number of Algerian ''crus'' were granted VDQS status. At the time of Algerian independence in 1962, they numbered 12.

The frequency with which new VDQS were created varied over the years. Between 1984 and 1994 not a single new VDQS was added.

As a result of an ongoing crisis in the French wine industry, Bernard Pomel was tasked with making proposals on how to remedy the situation. The so-called ''Pomel report'', which was presented to the French minister of agriculture on March 23, 2006, among other things proposed a simplification of the French wine classification system. This included eliminating the VDQS category. After political deliberations that somewhat delayed the initial timelines for the reform, the French parliament made the proposal into law in December 2007. The final wines labelled VDQS were those of the 2010 vintage, and by December 31, 2011, VDQS was removed entirely from the classification system.End of VDQS delayed
Truewines News Service Existing VDQS areas had until then to either qualify for full AOC status or to become '' vins de pays''. The latter was itself replaced by the '' protected geographical indication (PGI)'' classification (in France generally in its French form: ''indication géographique protégée''). Almost all VDQS areas opted to achieve AOC status, initiating relevant procedures from 2008 to 2009.

See also

* List of VDQS wines
* Geographical indications and traditional specialities in the European Union
* Quality wines produced in specified regions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vin Delimite de Qualite Superieure
French wine
Wine classification
French wine AOCs