"Traditional terms" have been referred as certain terms traditionally used in the EU in order to convey information to consumers about particularities and quality of wines complementing the information conveyed by designations of origin and geographical indications. Pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 of 29 April 2008, Member States are expected to take the steps necessary to stop the unlawful use of protected traditional terms. If the reader has ever had any doubt whether the traditional terms do have an effective protection in Spain, then he/she should continue reading.

It has been reported by Diario Jurídico that in a recent decision, the Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court refused the appeal of Vinos Atxega S.L. and confirmed the administrative fine up to 165,000 Euros against the winery, based on its unlawful use of the "Txacoli" traditional term. According to the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language, "Txacoli" or "Chacolí" is a wine, light and sour, made in the Basque Country, Cantabria and Chile.

The argument used by Vinos Atxega S.L., consisting of the fact that the wine it produces allegedly shared identical chemical composition that the protected designation, and that such traditional term was not based on an specific method of production was irrelevant for the Supreme Court. The Court reminds that "Txacoli" was specifically protected not because its elaboration process, but because it is linked to three designations of origin "Txacoli". It was evidenced that the wine from Vinos Atxega S.L. did not qualify for such traditional term, so the Court confirmed the prohibition to use it on the labelling.      

This is an interesting decision if we recall that the governing bodies of the three Denominations of Origin Txacoli failed in 2011 to secure the Community trademark registration for TXACOLI due to descriptiveness.