Discuss the French AOC system and the pros and cons of having such a system? What will be an ...

Created in 1935, France founded the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine, or INAO. France became the first nation to set up a countrywide system based on geography for controlling the origin and quality of its wine. The INAO is part of the French government that is officially authorized to regulate the French wine industry. This plan originated during the Great Depression as a preventative measure to protect French winemakers and consumers from fraudulent and inferior wine-blending methods practiced by some unethical French wine brokers.

The INAO guarantees that all appellation-controlled products hold to a rigorous set of growing and production standards. The Appellation d' Origine Contrle system, or AOC, is a French term meaning controlled appellation of origin and is applied to standards of production for various kinds and types of products such as wine, cheese, butter, and so on. The appellation designation is awarded and controlled by the INAO, and it guarantees that the products have been held to a set of rigorous production standards. The French AOC system is the model in the wine industry and parallels other the regulation systems in other major wine producing countries throughout the world.

PROS  Defined standards of quality, lessens fraudulent practices.

CONS  Depending upon perspective, some producers believe the laws are restrictive and prohibits a winemaker from the ability to make an alternative wine (and arguably better in some cases) than the law allows.