Appellations of Origin wines.

Alfonso J. Lopez Torres, Director Instituto Canario Food Quality (ICCA).

It can be said that the Denominations of Origin of the wines have been, in our European area, the first to be developed, and this was because the product they cover, the wine, offers differential features, including its quality, linked to the European vine, Vinifera L., depending on the geographical environment obtained, which includes, together with natural factors, the incidence of human factors.

The know-how of winegrowers, producers and processors have consolidated different categories of wines throughout history, including so-called special wines, some of them closely related to viticulture and oenology from different environments or geographical areas., as is the case of the Canary Islands.

In Spain in particular, the rules relating to Denominations of Origin are established for the first time applied to wines in the Wine Law of 1932 and it won't be until the year 1970 when said quality regime can be applied to other agricultural products, non-wine food and agri-food.

In a similar way, at the European level, once the European Economic Community is established, The first provisions that related quality to geographical origin are applied to wines, and it is already from 1970 when quality wines produced in certain regions are regulated (VCPRD) in terms of quality figure that came to integrate under the same legal coverage the initiatives that were being developed in this field in the different producing Member States. Furthermore, it became necessary to establish standards to protect the prestige and notoriety that wine denominations achieved in the trade..

It should be noted that both at the beginning, as in his career to the present, represented by the EU Regulation 1308/2013, the VCPRD and wines with geographical indication and subsequently, from the year 2008, DOPs and PGIs have been included in the Common Organization of the Wine Sector (COM) which included, In addition, production standards, oenological practices, designation and labeling, accurate vid varieties, market and exchange rules with third countries among others.

All of this has contributed to consolidating in the wine protection figures some peculiarities and specificities that in many cases must be maintained.. Protected Designations of Origin and Protected Geographical Indications of agricultural products, non-wine foodstuffs and agri-foodstuffs do not take a status in European legislation until the year 1992, limiting its regulation, basically, to the definitions, registration procedure, protection and controls.

In the Canary Islands, It's not until this year, when Parliament approves a Law on the management bodies of quality figures for agricultural products, non-wine food and agri-food, This law expresses the support of the Government of the Canary Islands for a quality policy for these products., through management bodies that, as in the case of wines, serve as a contributor to their enhancement.