Prohibited grape varieties make their way into the European Parliament. Strasbourg, October 2025.

During the parliamentary session from October 20 to 23, 2025, the European Parliament in Strasbourg hosted a special meeting dedicated to so-called “prohibited” grape varieties—Clinton, Isabelle, Noah, Othello, Jacquez, and Herbemont—as well as resistant hybrid varieties (or PIWIs).

Organized on the initiative of MEP Éric Sargiacomo, with the support of Cristina Guarda, Esther Herranz García, and André Franqueira Rodrigues, this meeting brought together winegrowers, researchers, and industry representatives from several European countries. All defended the idea that these grape varieties, unjustly banned for nearly a century, could now be a concrete lever for ecological and agricultural transition.

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A debate at the heart of the reform of the “ Paquet Vins”

This discussion is taking place against a major political backdrop: the reform of the “Wine Package” and the preparation of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2027.

MEPs Éric Sargiacomo and Chloé Ridel, together with Italian and Portuguese partners, have worked together to draft a European amendment aimed at reauthorizing the six banned grape varieties. This amendment will be put to a vote in the European Parliament on November 5, 2025, as part of the CAP negotiations.

The goal: to lift a ban imposed in 1934, now considered scientifically unfounded, and allow these wines to obtain full regulatory and commercial recognition. Beyond its symbolic significance, this development would mark political recognition of the agronomic and environmental potential of these resistant grape varieties:

• reducing pesticide use;

• adapting to climate change;

• preserving wine-growing biodiversity.

From the Cévennes to Strasbourg, the same battle

The presence in Strasbourg of representatives from the Cévennes PGI, welcomed by the Lozère Department, gave this meeting a strong regional dimension. For several years, this appellation has been working to rehabilitate six prohibited grape varieties that have shaped the wine-growing and cultural identity of the Cévennes region.

Despite nearly a century of prohibition, traces of them remain: in gardens and on the stone walls of Cévennes farmhouses, Clinton, Isabelle, and Jacquez vines serve as reminders of a popular, resilient, and deeply rooted tradition of winegrowing.

Winemaker Lilian Bauchet, president of the Vitis Batardus Liberata association www.vitisbatardusliberata.org, reminded MEPs that lifting the ban would only be a first step. Hybrid vines continue to face administrative and cultural obstacles, inherited from a century of marginalization.

In France, hybrid crops have declined from 400,000 hectares in the 1950s to less than 10,000 hectares today.

The association, which has more than 170 members, campaigns to put hybrid vines back at the heart of the wine industry's transition, convinced that they can help the sector break its dependence on pesticides in the long term.

Political and cultural awareness

The discussions in Strasbourg reflect a profound shift in attitudes. The joint support of Éric Sargiacomo, Chloé Ridel, and their European counterparts shows that the issue now goes beyond activism: it is part of a European movement to reclaim agriculture, heritage, and ecology.

The meeting concluded with a tasting led by Aude Rebourcet-Rigourd, demonstrating that wines made from these long-banned grape varieties are every bit as good as traditional vintages.