Call Me DOC

The Italian government has granted the famed red wine Sassicaia, which sells for $75 a bottle, the right to carry the DOC certification mark. DOC, which stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata , was set up in 1963 as the formal system of approving the use of regional names on wines conforming to specific production regulations that guaranteed the consumer would get a wine typical of the region named on the label. Anything else had to be labeled as simple table wine, or vino da tavola .

The system was intended to guarantee quality, but since it was based on tradition alone, it discouraged experimentation--for instance, in production methods or grape varieties. Ironically, by the early 1970s some of Italy’s best and most expensive wines (such as Sassicaia) were labeled vino da tavola .