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Percentage of France’s organic vineyards that are in the single southern French region historically known as the Languedoc-Roussillon. (Recently the side-by-side regions on the Mediterranean coast have been joined by the region Midi-Pyrénées to create a new region Occitanie.) From a worldwide perspective, 10% of the globe’s organic acreage is in the Languedoc-Roussillon.

How many AOCs (Appellations d’Origine Contrôlée) are there in France?

A. 1,000

B. 85

C. 450

D. 260

France’s Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) laws date from the 1930s, and define and delimit French wine regions. Currently there are 450 AOCs in France, accounting for 53.4% of the wines made in the country. The rules of any designated AOC stipulate how producers who want to use that AOC’s name on their labels must make their product. The rules define, among many other factors, the permitted geographical location of vineyards and varieties of grapes, as well as minimum aging times and alcohol levels. Wines that do not follow AOC regulations (or are outside the delimited areas) are labeled as IGP (Indication Géographique Protégée) wines or Vins de France.

“It seems almost a moral obligation [in the Napa Valley] to make wines with a life, because you can’t do that everywhere. It’s a gift.”

―Cathy Corison, Corison Winery, as quoted in Wine Revolution by Jane Anson

―Cathy Corison, Corison Winery, as quoted in Wine Revolution by Jane Anson

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