Usages relating to wine: nunc est bibendum

Abstract

Defined as practices with legal force, usages are the issue of a debate relating to the definition of the most relevant sources of law. This debate is particularly lively in the agro-food sector. The first part of the article examines the presence of many usages in the production, the marketing as well as the consumption of wine. In a more dynamic perspective, the second part shows a marginalization of regional usages and the vitality of the transnational usages. This situation invites to defend, in the third part, regional usages in order to promote legal diversity. This promotion highlights a new protective effect of usages concerning traditional practices restricted by certain “appellations d’origine controlee” or “protégée”.