Wine has one of the most precise and extensive systems of identification and production control of any food product. Although the great majority of the world's wine is ordinary table wine of no special distinction, most wines are labeled at least by region of production, type of grape or type of wine, and year of production. As the quality of wine increases the specifics of identification are more rigorous and, often, controlled by law. Systems by which wine production and identification is regulated in various countries are, in large part, based on the system developed in France, which is known generally as the appellation d'origine c(ntrolTe (AOC) or simply appellation c(ntrolTe (AC). The French system identifies the particular region in which a wine is made, such as Bordeaux, and subdivides the region into increasingly specific locales for which even types of grapes, levels of annual production, and growing and vinification techniques may be specified by law. Since the French system is the oldest and the most intensively specialized, an overview of wine production in a single French region demonstrates the working of the AC system. An outline of wine production is, therefore, followed by a discussion of the wines of the Rh(ne Valley.
There are many kinds of grapes in the genus Vitis. But only the Vitis vinifera and, more rarely, the Vitis labrusca are important in wine production. Vitis Vinifera includes the European wine grapes while labrusca is the hardy native American grape that has sometimes been hybridized with varieties of vinifera to create vines that can survive harsh weather in North America. There are seven principal types of grape used to produce red wines and seven used for white wine. Many of them are very similar in appearance and, without specialized knowledge, it is not even possible to tell which are used to make red or white wines. But growing grapes for the best wines is not a simple matter since ...