INV approved the new Compendium of Methods of Analysis of Wines and Musts, which standardizes 51 methods to verify alcohol content, acidity, methanol and heavy metals. The measure consolidates the reform that eliminated 973 standards and concentrated oversight on the finished product.
The Instituto Nacional de Vitivinicultura (INV) approved 51 analytical methods through Resolution 8/2026, signed by its president, Carlos Raúl Tizio. The regulation approves the new Compendium of Methods of Analysis of Wines and Musts and consolidates the oversight scheme launched a year ago, when the institute eliminated 973 standards and concentrated controls on the finished product.
The compendium establishes common criteria for conducting analyses on those products, with the aim of making the results obtained by different laboratories comparable. Its preparation was handled by the INV's Directorate of Viticultural Studies and Development, which used methodologies from the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) and protocols formalized by the institute itself as references. That formulation also responds to the conclusions of the National Program of Interlaboratory Oenological Trials, an initiative that brought together public and private analytical facilities.
Among the parameters that can be assessed are alcohol content, acidity, sugar concentration, the presence of methanol and heavy metals such as lead and arsenic, and the detection of substances such as gluten and natamycin, an antifungal agent.
In its annex, the regulation specifies how to prepare the samples, which equipment and reagents to use and how to calculate and interpret the results. The ultimate aim is to reduce the methodological differences that may exist between different procedures.
As a result of the changes introduced a year ago, inspections at the intermediate winemaking stages inside the wineries were eliminated. That was compounded by the repeal of transit permits and the obligation to file weekly sworn declarations of production.
To gauge the scope of those modifications, during 2024 alone the INV had carried out some 5,000 inspections and issued 140,000 transit permits. The institute thus moved to concentrate its oversight on the final product, controls that are reflected in this new compendium.
