Denominazione di origine controllata

The following four classifications of wine constitute the Italian system of labelling and legally protecting Italian wine: The system was introduced in 1963 shortly after the Treaty of Rome established Italy as a founding member of the European Economic Community, and was modelled on the extant French appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) laws.

Since 2008 both IGT and vin de pays are equivalent to the EU protected geographical indication (PGI) designation, and many producers have switched to using the Italian translation, Indicazione geografica protetta (IGP).

The denominazione di origine controllata classification was created to be roughly equivalent to the French appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC).

Historically the DOC status has been used to classify other food products such as cheeses, olive oil and vinegar, but the denominazione di origine protetta (DOP) is now used instead.

For wines produced in Bolzano, where German is an official language, DOCG may be written as Kontrollierte und garantierte Ursprungsbezeichnung.

[5] For wines produced in the Aosta Valley, where French is an official language, DOCG may be written as Dénomination d'origine contrôlée et garantie.