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IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Aspect juridiques des terroirs

Aspect juridiques des terroirs

Abstract

Le “terroir” est dans tous les discours, les articles, les étiquettes et les publicités. Le voca­ble est en situation d’utilisation euphorique. Indiscutablement l’emploi historique est agri­cole, puis viticole, mais il n’est jamais juridique.
Pourtant le concept de terroir a certainement un lieu avec les produits typiques qui en sont issus et qui sont réglementés. La même observation peut être faite pour les autres produits agricoles bruts ou transformés, voire les denrées alimentaires qui bénéficient d’une appella­tion d’origine protégée ou d’une indication géographique protégée au sens du Règlement (CEE) n° 2081/92 du 14 juillet 1992. De quoi parle-t-on lorsqu’on utilise le mot “terroir” et quelle peut être la place de ce concept dans le droit de la vigne et du vin?
L’étymologie est latine: terroir vient de “terra”, mais la sémantique est plus nuancée. Dans l’ancien français “terroir” s’applique à une terre de grande qualité, mais aussi au territoire exploité par une communauté rurale dont l’activité délimite le terroir en question. Le terroir désigne tout à la fois une spécificité agronomique (un terroir à fraises, un terroir à asperges … ) et la sphère d’activité d’un village, puis progressivement le terroir désigne seule­ment un lieu dont les caractéristiques naturelles donnent aux produits qui en sont issus leur typicité.
Historiquement l’usage du mot terroir, dans son application viticole, remonte aux XVIIème et XVIIIème siècles, moment aussi des premières délimitations (Chianti, Porto).
Le chemin de la connaissance empirique, puis scientifique, des terroirs a presque trois siè­cles. Quels sont les apports et les concepts des spécialistes de la viticulture?
Les responsables professionnels ont parlé de terroir en même temps que naissait l’appella­tion d’origine: “Une appellation d’origine est l’adéquation de cépages à un terroir. Un terroir, c’est un sol et les facteurs climatiques dont la conjonction donne une aire de production ..” pour le ministre français de l’agriculture Joseph Capus en 1935. Le baron Le Roy va dans le même sens “.. aussi célèbre que soit une commune, tous les terrains qui la composent ne sont pas aptes à produire des vins réputés”, une délimitation doit être faite fondée sur la nature géologique du terrain, ses caractères géographiques et son profil hydrique.
Le lien terroir-appellation d’origine est évident mais non empreint d’automaticité. L’étude des terroirs est une recherche des meilleures conditions possibles de production des vins. Progressivement le nombre de paramètres étudiés devient de plus en plus important dans la perspective d’une dichotomie: facteurs naturels – facteurs humains tirée de la définition de l’appellation d’origine définie par l’Arrangement de Lisbonne en 1958. A cet égard on peut relever qu’il y a pas totale unanimité parmi les scientifiques dans la qualification facteurs naturels-facteurs humains et dans leur interactivité.
Dans un premier temps on peut légitimement penser que le mot terroir s’applique exclu­sivement aux facteurs naturels de l’appellation d’origine. Mais la période récente montre abondamment le lien entre le terroir-facteurs naturels et les facteurs humains. Le produit final est la réponse, le miroir, du dialogue des facteurs naturels et des facteurs humains. Une “approche intégrée” du terroir viticole se dessine.
Pour d’autres produits agricoles ou denrées alimentaires on comprend bien que les travaux ne sont pas encore aussi nombreux et aussi approfondis. Il faut aussi noter que la relation facteurs naturels-facteurs humains est une relation qui peut être totalement déséquilibrée en privilégiant les uns ou les autres.
Par ailleurs terroir et appellation d’origine ne sont pas nécessairement liés, Une appellation d’origine est vraisemblablement fondée sur un terroir, mais un terroir peut exister en dehors d’un produit d’appellation d’origine.
Un produit désigné par une indication géographique peut être issu d’un terroir, si un effort de délimitation et d’adéquation des plantations a été réalisé. Un vin de table à indication géo­graphique au sens du droit communautaire (vin de pays en France; indication géographique typique en Italie) peut être issu d’un terroir.
A l’abondance scientifique viticole répond une faiblesse juridique apparente. Le mot “ter­roir” n’a pas de signification juridique particulière, c’est un nom commun pratiquement en libre usage.
Les textes nationaux et communautaires n’emploient pratiquement jamais le mot terroir. Partout il n’est question que “d’aire de production” ou de “zone de production”, sauf pour le Règlement (CEE) n° 3302/90 de la Commission du 15 novembre 1990 fixant les modalités d’application relatives aux transferts de droits de replantation de superficies viticoles qui définit le ” .. terroir de potentialités variétales .. “comme ” .. l’unité de milieu naturel, caractérisée par des données géomorphologiques, pédologiques et climatiques, pour laquelle il est fait un classement d’aptitude variétale”.
Les points de contact terroir-droit de la vigne et du vin apparaissent plus ou moins nom­breux. Néanmoins quand des efforts de distinctivité d’un produit, vin ou autre, sont réalisés le droit reprend sa place. Quand il y a terroir plus ou moins scientifiquement affirmé les pro­fessionnels qui désignent leur produit par le nom géographique du lieu de production souhaitent, dans leur intérêt et celui des consommateurs, réserver ce nom au produit élaboré dans une “région déterminée” pour les vins, dans une “zone de production” pour les autres produits agricoles. Progresser dans le sens de la définition des terroirs implique des procé­dures juridiquement définies de délimitation (I) et entraîne la volonté de protection des ter­roirs (II).

DOI:

Publication date: March 2, 2022

Issue: Terroir 1998

Type: Article

Authors

JACQUES AUDIER

Professeur à la Faculté de droit et de science politique d’Aix-Marseille.
Conseiller chargé des questions juridiques de l’Office International de la Vigne et du Vin. Membre du comité scientifique AOP-IGP auprès de la Commission européenne.

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IVES Conference Series | Terroir 1998

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