1900s–1930s · France
The birth of appellation systems
Fraud after phylloxera drove the creation of legally defined appellations.
What happened
Post-phylloxera shortages produced widespread fraud: wine from elsewhere sold under famous names, wine made from raisins, and adulteration on a large scale.
Growers protested, sometimes violently — the Languedoc revolt of 1907 and unrest in Champagne in 1910 and 1911 were serious civil disturbances.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape led the way with locally drafted rules in the 1920s, and the national AOC system followed with the creation of the INAO in 1935.
The model — a delimited area with rules on varieties, yields and methods — was subsequently adopted across Europe and shaped the EU's PDO framework.
How firmly this is dated
Documented. Recorded contemporaneously. The date is not in question.
Founding legislation in each jurisdiction, and the institutional records of the bodies created.
Sources
Sources consulted
- Institut national de l’origine et de la qualité (INAO) — INAO, France
Along the timeline
Before · 1920–1933
What Prohibition did to American vineyards
The vineyards did not disappear — they were replanted to thick-skinned grapes that could survive a rail journey to home winemakers.
After · 1935
France creates the AOC system
The Comité National — later the INAO — was established to define and police appellations, and the model spread worldwide.