Denominazione di origine controllata is a quality assurance label for Italian food products, especially wines and various cheeses. It is modelled after the French AOC. It was instituted in 1963 and overhauled in 1992 for compliance with the equivalent EU law on Protected Designation of Origin, which came into effect that year. There are three levels of labels: ⁕DO — Denominazione di Origine ⁕DOC — Denominazione di Origine Controllata ⁕DOCG — Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita All three require that a food product be produced within the specified region using defined methods and that it satisfy a defined quality standard. The need for a DOCG identification arose when the DOC designation was, in the view of many Italian food industries, given too liberally to different products. A new, more restrictive identification was then created, as similar as possible to the previous one so that buyers could still recognize it, but qualitatively different. A notable difference for wines is that DOCG labelled wines are analysed and tasted by government–licensed personnel before being bottled. To prevent later manipulation, DOCG wine bottles then are sealed with a numbered governmental seal across the cap or cork. Wikipedia [ - ]

Denominazione di origine controllata is a quality assurance label for Italian food products,... [ + ]