Denominazione di origine controllata is an Italian quality assurance label for food products and especially wines (an appellation). It is modelled after the French AOC. It was instituted in 1963 and overhauled in 1992 for compliance with the equivalent EU law on Protected Designation of Origin, which came into effect that year. There are three levels of labels:
- DOC — Denominazione di Origine Controllata
- DOCG — Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita
- DO — Denominazione di Origine
All three require that a food product be produced within the specified region using defined methods and that it satisfies a defined quality standard. DOCG regions are subterritories of DOC regions that produce outstanding products that may be subject to more stringent production and quality standards than the same products from the surrounding DOC region. The need for a DOCG identification arose when the DOC denomination was, in the view of many Italian food industries, given too liberally to different products. A new, more restrictive identification was then created, as similar as possible to the previous one so that buyers could still recognize it, but qualitatively different. A notable difference for wines is that DOCG labelled wines are analysed and tasted by government–licensed personnel before being bottled. To prevent later manipulation, DOCG wine bottles then are sealed with a numbered governmental seal across the cap or cork. Italian legislation additionally regulates the use of the following qualifying terms for wines:
- classico: is reserved for wines produced in the region where a particular type of wine has been produced "traditionally". For the Chianti classico, this "traditional region" is defined by a decree from July 10, 1932.
- riserva: may be used only for wines that have been aged at least two years longer than normal for a particular type of wine.
Wines labelled DOC or DOCG may only be sold in bottles holding at most 5 liters.
See also
- List of Italian DOCG wines
- List of Italian DOC wines
- Indicazione Geografica Tipica, for high-quality wines that do not fit DOC/DOCG regulations.
External links
- An excerpt from the relevant Italian law (Italian).
- V.Q.P.R.D. Vini (DOCG – DOC): Elenco e Riferimenti Normativi al 07.02.2006 (Italian) is a pdf file, published by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, which lists every DOC and DOCG wine as of February 2006, together with the dates of the decrees by which the appellation was instituted or modified, and the provinces in which the wine is permitted to be produced.
- Link to complete legislation relating to the products protected. (ita.)
