Who are the key law makers of the wine world?
Indeed, wine production is subject to an abundance of rules and laws. In Europe which is the area of focus here, the godfather of rules & law on wine is the AOC-system (appellation d’origins controlée). This system has since changed its name to AOP but the focus point stays on point: a protected designation of origin for all food products. As such a Roquefort cheese can only be called Roquefort as long as it is produced in the commune of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon.
Along with the geographical notion there is obviously a number of additional rules tied to the production of the blue cheese; In parallel, beef from Charolais can only be called Charolais beef when the cattle is bred in the Charolais area surrounding Charolles in Saône-et-Loire; And only a wine from within the region of Bordeaux bearing the specific productional trademarks of Bordeaux can call itself AOC Bordeaux.
So now we are approaching a field where law making becomes political.
Because this is not merely a curious way for French people to know what they are eating and drinking.
All of the rules applied to every specific AOC labelled food product is decided, controlled and regulated by the Institut national de l’origine et de la qualité (previously Institut National des Appellations d’Origine (INAO)) residing in Paris and it can literally mean make or break to a small scale family business – or a large one for that matter.
In this article we discuss how power is exerted and lived by.
