DOC Wine
DOC and DOP are abbreviations you are probably used to seeing on various types of product, wine among them. DOC stands for Denominação de Origem Controlada (Controlled Designation of Origin) and DOP means Denominação de Origem Protegida (Protected Designation of Origin). In wine, they can be used interchangeably, since they follow the same rules. It is purely and simply a matter of nomenclature.
Today, the focus is on DOC wines. The DOC designation holds something special for us, the Portuguese, because we are at the very origin of DOCs. It is historically proven that the Marquês de Pombal created, in 1756, the first demarcated wine region in the world, ordering 335 stone markers to be placed that protected the growers of grapes for Port wine from the counterfeits of the time.
What Is DOC Wine?
But what, in the end, is DOC wine? Basically, it is a way of protecting wine from counterfeiting, that is, protecting it from copies that try to recreate what is impossible to recreate, namely to copy the characteristics of a given place, which in turn characterise a region.
DOC wine is a wine produced within a given region that is regulated, in which rules have been created that can range from the regional boundaries, through the type of grape varieties and the ways of growing them, to the length of ageing before and after bottling, among others. These rules have only one purpose: to guarantee the indisputable character of the wines produced in that area or region.
The Characteristics of DOC Wine
The characteristics of DOC wines cannot be listed, since each region has its own particularities. What I can guarantee is that a DOC wine will necessarily carry a seal of guarantee from the region where it was produced, ensuring that this wine has the physical-chemical and organoleptic qualities, tested and confirmed by the regulator of that DOC, namely the Regional Winegrowing Commissions, or CVRs; in the case of the Douro and Port, the IVDP; and in Madeira, the IVBAM.
The CVRs, the IVDP and the IVBAM are the bodies that oversee and regulate the 31 DOCs that exist in Portugal. These entities have the role of ensuring that each region’s rules are followed, as well as the quality of the wines produced in each one, with quality also necessarily tied to the regional character that a wine submitted for the approval of these bodies has, and not only to the intrinsic quality of each wine. That is, Portuguese DOC wines are not assessed by their quality alone, but also assessed in relation to the characteristics they must meet by being produced in that region.
DOC Wine Production
We can say that DOC wine production is the result of the rules imposed by the region in which it is produced. I give the example of the DOC Colares wines, which can only be produced from grapes of vines planted in sandy soil, with the white and red wines having to age for a minimum of 6 and 18 months, respectively, before bottling. In the case of the DOC Colares red, those 18 months have to be in wooden vats.
And after that ageing, the wines are still required to spend time in the bottle, before being released onto the market, for 3 and 6 months, respectively.
The production of a DOC wine is “bound” to very specific rules that must be followed.
The Difference Between DOC Wines and Regional Wines
So what is the difference between DOC wines and regional wines? And table wines, today simply called wines?
The big difference between them lies in the restrictions imposed by each of the designations, with DOC wines being the ones with the strictest rules. Next come the regional wines (IGP — Protected Geographical Indication), which allow, for example, greater freedom to use grape varieties not indigenous to the region. Table wines, on the other hand, are regulated only by the rules of the IVV (Instituto da Vinha e do Vinho), which regulates the entire wine sector.
By this I do not mean that you should only buy DOC wines. Far from it. Today there are regional wines and even table wines that may have greater intrinsic quality than some DOCs, but which simply do not meet some of the regional rules imposed, preventing them from carrying the DOC or IGP seal.
In any case, know that when you drink a DOC wine, it has been controlled and should reflect the character of the region printed on the label… which has a special flavour.
“Symbolically, it is like taking a journey through a bottle.”
From the page to the glass
- Monte Cascas Ramisco de Colares — Portugal’s rarest red. Ungrafted Ramisco from the sands of Colares.
- Monte Cascas Malvasia de Colares — Ungrafted Malvasia rooted in sand, a kilometre from the Atlantic.
- Monte Cascas Reserva Tinto Douro — Touriga Franca from four old terraced vineyards, 360 to 540 metres.
