When I joined the wine business way back in 1988 the French AOC or Appellation Controlee quality control system was the watch word for quality and integrity. In short it was the industry standard. Sadly now in 2010 in the lower to middle price brackets it is almost irrelevant.
For instance. As little as ten years ago it was very difficult to sell a Vin d'pays wine along side a AOC wine for the same or higher price. Now I can mix these two classifications on the racks side by side at the same price and nobody bats an eyelid. Unthinkable in 1988.
The AOC system once the envy of the world was set up in the 30's at a time when making wine was a bit of a free for all. It was common place to add ruff heavy wine from north Africa to say Chateauneuf du Pape to give it more body and it was not uncommon to add Chateauneuf to Claret to give that a bit of umph! Things were getting badly out of control and the French government decided they must act to safe guard the reputation of their most treasured 'liquid asset. So in short this a basic description
An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown; other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boundaries, such as what grapes may be grown, maximum grape yields, alcohol level, and other quality factors, may also apply before an appellation name may legally appear on a wine bottle label. The rules that govern appellations are dependent on the area of France in which the wine was produced.
In 1935, the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (INAO), a branch of the French Ministry of Agriculture, was created to manage wine-processing in France. In the Rhone wine region Baron Pierre Le Roy Boiseaumarié, a lawyer and winegrower from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, obtained legal recognition of the Côtes du Rhône appellation of origin in 1937. The AOC seal, or Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, was created and mandated by French laws in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
The trouble is that AOC was really only set up for the French and nobody else! It is quite difficult to understand without doing you home work first. Of course if your buying from a good knowledgeable wine merchant this isn't really a problem. But in the supermarket or the local convenience store it is a huge problem!
The thing that has really done for AOC is the thing that has done for French wine in general and that is the huge rise in sales of 'new world wine' By putting the name of the grape variety on the front of the label they have completely cut through all the mystery that once surrounded French wine. the attitude now is "I like Merlot and I like £5 per bottle. I'll buy it"
But of course it has also done away with a lot of the romance, history and little quirks that make wine fun and interesting over and above getting pissed!
Look. If I buy a bottle of Sauvingnon blanc from Chile I know that it is going to taste like a Sav Blanc from Chile. However if I buy a bottle of Sancerre, made from Sav blanc I know that it is going to taste different from a bottle of Pouilly Fume also made from Sav blanc and I might prefer my Sav blanc slightly more rounded in flavour with a little less acidity and Pouilly Fume gives me that! Get the idea?
If you know enough you can even differentiate between two differant vineyards in the same area growing the same grapes! That means in the middle to upper price brackets in the world of fine wine the AOC system still plays a crucial role.
But towards the bottom end I guess the only thing that matters is. Is is under £4? and is it at least 14% Alc!
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