A primer on wine appellations
The appellation framework places quality controls on wines of certain, legally defined, regions. It helps protect consumers by ensuring wines with an appellation label are of a certain quality.
Wine regions are often referred to as appellations. The word comes into English from old French, and essentially means a name or designation.
In the context of wine regions, an appellation is a legally protected name under which wines can be labelled, marketed and sold. The legal protection is contingent on the wine being made with certain constraints, and to a certain standard of quality.
For instance, for a wine to be labelled with the appellation Sancerre – a famous region in the Loire Valley in France – it must be made from either Sauvignon Blanc (and be a white wine), or Pinot Noir (and be a red or rosé wine). There’s nothing to stop a winemaker from making wine out of, say, Cabernet Sauvignon grapes – you just couldn’t call it Sancerre.
The grapes must also be grown within a certain geographical area to be called Sancerre. Again, there’s nothing to stop a maverick winemaker from trucking in grapes from nearby Burgundy and making wine from those grapes in the winery in Sancerre – but, again, you couldn’t apply ‘Sancerre’ to the label.
A dispute over the term ‘Tokay’ between the Tokaji region of Hungary and Alsace in France was one of the longest-running disputes over appellation naming rights.
The grapes also need to be of a certain quality (generally a minimum level of the natural sugars in the grapes before harvest) and the style of winemaking is often prescribed too. Some regions require wines to be subjected to taste tests by an independent panel for quality control.
All the rules and regulations can run to many, many pages of highly technical legalese, defining rules and regulations that I’m sure never cross the average wine consumer’s mind when we’re choosing a bottle in the store! (If you want a fun afternoon, spend some time on the INAO’s website – the government-controlled organisation that oversees the appellation system in France).
In return for following these constraints, wineries in a given appellation can be assured of a certain level of quality that everyone in the appellation is abiding by. This is helpful for collective marketing purposes and for maintaining a reputation for quality. It also gives legal protection (like a trademark) ensuring no other wine region from somewhere else in the world can capitalise on the appellation’s good name. For instance, a grower of Sauvignon Blanc in Napa can’t legally use the word ‘Sancerre’ on wine they make. This sort of thing has happened in the past – leading to lawsuits between countries*.
Appellation systems in Europe
The French appellation system has come to be broadly enfolded into European Union law and adopted by other EU countries. (The system also applies to other agricultural products, such as cheese, cider, spirits, breads, cured meats, etc.) However, every country has their own terminology, hierarchy and precise legal regulations. The standardised term in English for an appellation now is a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). In France, you find Appellations d’Origine Protégée (AOP). Spanish has the term Denominación, Italian Denominazione; it’s more complicated in Germany (and you thought it couldn’t get worse!) but the principles broadly apply.
Appellation systems outside Europe
Winemaking countries outside of the EU have also seen the benefits of having a strong legal protection for wines that come from a defined and recognised location. Thus we have American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) in the USA; the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) system in British Columbia and Ontario; Geographical Indications (GIs) in Australia and New Zealand; Wines of Origin in South Africa; and Denominaciónes de Origen (DOs) in Latin America. These all vary in scope and rigour, but the principles of offering legal protection to geographically localised wines in return for a certain quality standard still broadly apply.
Amongst other things, appellation rules generally prescribe which grape varieties are allowed to be made into wine in the region.
The appellation system in France
Most countries have a hierarchy of appellation classifications. In France, there are three levels:
1. Appellation d’Origine Protégée (AOP)
This is the highest level in terms of quality control but also of constraints put on the winemaker (which grapes can be grown in which region, etc). Wines are of a decent quality and should offer an experience that reflects the region the wine comes from – in terms of grape varieties, stylistic conventions and certain historical traditions. However, there is huge variation throughout France. Some appellations are tiny (e.g. the 0.85 ha of the exclusive, single vineyard of La Romanée AOP in Burgundy); some are huge (by contrast, Bordeaux AOP covers over 60,000 ha and produces around 330 million bottles per year).
2. Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP)
On the next level down, there are fewer constraints on the winemaker. This category used to be known as Vin de Pays (‘country wine’) to refer to the fact that the grapes could be sourced from a larger geographical area. There are still limitations on this area though, as well as on grape varieties and wine composition. However, these are far less onerous than those for AOP. Perhaps the most widely-known (and by far the largest) is the Pays d’Oc IGP – a region that encompasses a vast swathe of land on France’s Mediterranean coast, from the border with Spain to the Rhône estuary.
3. Vin de France
Finally, we have the Vin de France category. There are very few constraints placed on these wines – they are allowed to indicate the grape variety and vintage on the label (if applicable; multi-grape and multi-vintage blends are still allowed) but cannot state a geographical location more specific than ‘France’. In practice, this category is used for large-scale commercial wines.
Anders Frederik Steen is one such maverick winemaker. His approach to winemaking is idiosyncratic (to say the least) and generally falls foul of the French appellation rules. This semi-sparkling ‘wine’ made in the south of France also includes apples in the mix. It’s delicious, but it’s not got any appellation labelling!
4. The mavericks
OK, I know I said ‘finally’ above, but you can also find winemakers that don’t put any of the above labels on their wines. The wines might be of extremely high quality and the grapes come from a very specific geographical location but there’s no AOP label. There are maverick winemakers who want to make wine in a particular way or use certain grapes, but these aren’t permitted under the appellation laws. Or maybe their vineyard falls just outside the geographical boundaries of the appellation.
Such winemakers challenge the rigid structure of the appellation regime, whether calling for boundary changes, new grape varieties or new winemaking methods to be added to the laws. The INAO isn’t averse to change, but change happens slowly. However, as the climate continues to change over the coming years, expect more and more changes to the rules for these appellations to survive‡.
* One interesting, and relatively recent, example involves the famous Hungarian Tokaji – traditionally lusciously sweet wine made from indigenous grapes including Furmint and Hárslevelű in the Tokaj region of Hungary. This region is – you guessed it – is a protected appellation in Hungary. However, the spelling variant ‘Tokay’ has been used in Alsace for centuries to describe sweet wines made from Pinot Gris – which have no relation whatsoever to the Hungarian grapes. Cue a legal battle that waged for the best part of a century before things were resolved! End result: ‘Tokay’ now belongs exclusively to Hungary, but you might still see the term of bottles from Alsace made before 2007.
‡ In July 2019, in the midst of yet another European heatwave, wine producers in Bordeaux agreed unanimously to increase the range of grape varieties legally allowed to be planted and incorporated into Bordeaux AOP wines – including two indigenous Portuguese varieties.