Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée
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Appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC), which translates as "term of controlled origin" is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, by the government bureau Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (INAO). Under French law, it is illegal to manufacture and sell a product under one of the AOC-controlled geographical indications if it does not comply with the criteria of the AOC.
All AOC products are identified by a seal, which is printed on the label or the rind (in the case of an AOC cheese). To prevent any possible misrepresentation, no part of an AOC name may be used on a label of a product not qualifying for that AOC. However, many producers are located in towns where the AOC is the name of the town, and thus are enjoined from listing anything more than a cryptic postal code.
Criteria
The term of controlled origin guarantees the following product criteria:
- The product will be produced consistently in the traditional manner.
- It will be produced with ingredients from a designated geographical area, and will be made and at least partially aged in this area.
- The characteristics of the product will conform to clearly defined standards.
- The production is strictly regulated by a control commission following AOC-defined standards.
History
The origins of AOC date back to the 15th century, when Roquefort was regulated by a parliamentary decree. The first modern law was set on May 6, 1919, when the Law for the Protection of the Place of Origin was passed, specifying the region and commune that a given product must be manufactured in, and has been revised on many occasions since then. On July 30, 1935, the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (INAO), a branch of the French Ministry of Agriculture, was created to manage the administration of the process for wines. In the Rhône wine region Baron Pierre Le Roy Boiseaumarié, a trained lawyer and winegrower from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, successfully obtained legal recognition of the "Côtes du Rhône" appellation of origin in 1937.The AOC seal was created and mandated by French laws in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. On July 2, 1990, the scope of work of the INAO was extended beyond wines to cover other agricultural products.
Wine
Certain AOCs for wine are recognized as being superior to others in their region as first established by the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. Typically these are variations on "cru," the French word for growth, and depend on the region. In general, wines called "Grand Cru" are at the top of the quality hierarchy, with "premiers crus" one level below. Beneath these are simple named places. Depending on the region, a cru might be assigned to an estate or to a legally-defined vineyard area. While in theory a Grand Cru should be the finest expression of its site, it is generally a more accurate indicator of price than quality.
The Bordeaux wine classification was based entirely on recent wine prices in 1855. However, many châteaux now own different vineyards, grow different grapes, and use different wine-making techniques than they did when the ranking system was established. Wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr. says the clasification causes mediocre wine to be sold for too much, and superior wine to be sold for too little for lack of a ranking. As a result, the system victimizes the consumer. He says the 1855 classifications "should be regarded by both the wine connoisseur and the novice as informational items of historical significance only."
AOCs vary dramatically in size. Some cover vast expanses with a variety of climatic and soil characteristics, while others are small and highly uniform. For example, the Cotes-du-Rhone AOC "covers some 40,000 hectares, but within its area lies one of the smallest AOCs, Château Grillet, which occupies less than four hectares of land."
A more detailed discussion of various classification schemes can be found in the article on First Growths.
- List of Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée wines
- List of Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée liqueurs and spirits
Cheese
In 1925, Roquefort became the first cheese to be awarded an AOC label, and since then over 40 cheeses have been assigned AOC status, with the most recent, Banon, being awarded the status in 2003.
Other countries
Many other countries have based their controlled place name systems on AOC. See appellation and:
- Italy's Denominazione di Origine Controllata and Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita
- Spain's Denominación de Origen
- Portugal's Denominação de Origem Controlada
- Austria's Districtus Austria Controllatus
- South Africa's Wine of Origin
- Germany's Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete
- United States' American Viticultural Areas
- Switzerland's AOC-IGP [link]
See also
- American Viticultural Area
- Protected Designation of Origin, a classification defined in European Union Law
- terroir
Source
- Phillips, Rod. A Short History of Wine. NY: HarperCollins, 2000.
External links
- [INAO website]
- [Provence-Hideaways] Explanation of AOC Classifications
- [Chez Mistral] wine, food and other adventures in and around the Provence
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