Geographic Indications and Designations of Origin

Many styles and categories of spirits possess a Geographic Indication (GI), meaning they can only be made in a particular country or region.  For example, Cognac is a brandy that must be made in the delimited "Cognac region” of France, tequila must be made in Mexico, and bourbon must be made in the United States. 

A common subcategory of GI is a Designation of Origin (DO).  These are based on more the concept of terroir, meaning some facet of the surrounding environment, be it the soil, climate, water source, etc., contributes defining characteristics to the spirit that would be inimitable elsewhere.  These also often include production guidelines.  Broadly speaking, the difference is philosophical.  A Geographic Indication simply protects a country/regions right to their intellectual property, whereas a DO insinuates that property would be impossible to replicate elsewhere.  They are meant to ensure quality and maintain the integrity of the property itself.   But the lines of truth here can be gray, more on that below.

Appellation O'origine Contrôlée (AOC)

Countries have their own internal systems and titles (often it’s simply Designation of Origin in their native language) that govern these certifications.   Globally, they are all presided over by the World Trade Organization (WTO).   One of the best-known examples is France's Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) system, aka “Controlled Designation of Origin”.  It originated in the 1400s and set the benchmark for many of the DO systems that exist today.  A vast array of French products are protected under an AOC.  In addition to location restrictions, they also contain highly detailed specifications on production which are forcefully upheld. Cognac, Armagnac, Calvados and Agricole Rhum from Martinique are all spirits that possess AOCs.

Why is all this important you ask?  Because it often the best way parsing out the differences between spirit categories and styles, even if it's purely technical.  This is especially great for nerds like me who is obsessed with classifying everything.

GIs and DOs Aren’t Everything

Keep in mind, since each country has a different system, the standards are not all the same.  This is particularly true of DOs.  For example, in Mexico, but only 9 states have a DO that allows them to make an agave spirit labeled as Mezcal, though fantastic Mezcal is made all throughout Mexico, even if it can't be labeled as such.  The reason for this has more to do with bureaucracy than terroir.  This is all to say, the lines between these Geographic Indications can be blurry. 

On that note, remember that while these systems can be helpful and often raise the bar for many categories, there’s no certification for quality.  Just because something is made in a certain place in a certain way doesn’t make it better.  Nor does the fact that it was made somewhere else make it bad.  Take Japanese whisky, it was created in the 1930s in the image of scotch, and for decades was dismissed as a cheap imitation.  But in the last 25 years, Japan has come to be recognized for making some of the best whisky in the world.   Keep an open mind.  Labels aren't everything.