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The top category in the French system for ensuring quality wines. Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée, which means “Controlled appellation of Origin,” is sometimes shortened to appellation Contrôlée and abbreviated as either AOC or AC. The French initiated the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée system in 1935 as a means of safeguarding the more quality-conscious winemakers, vineyards, and areas from unethical producers who were taking advantage of the better-known names. Although the French AC system can’t guarantee the quality of a producer’s wine, it can control most of the elements that go into making it. This control is accomplished by the demanding criteria necessary for qualifying as an AC. These criteria fall into the following seven categories: (1) the land—acceptable vineyard acreage is precisely defined based on centuries of recorded usage and issues such as the land’s soil, configuration, and altitude; (2) the grape varieties—the grape varieties are defined for each geographic area and based on historical data, clarifying which varieties perform well in particular soils and climates; (3) viticultural practices—this category considers such things as the number of vines per hectare, pruning techniques, and fertilization methods; (4) permissible yield—because large yields decrease the grapes’ quality, and one way to improve caliber is to restrict the crop, maximum yields are established for each AC; (5) alcohol content—all ACs must guarantee a minimum alcohol level, which means that the grapes must reach a certain ripeness (sugar content), which in turn ensures flavor, although in some areas it’s legal to add sugar (chaptalize) to reach the required alcohol level; (6) winemaking practices—each AC has regulations regarding winemaking procedures, usually based on historical practices that produced favorable results; (7) official tasting—since 1979 tasting panels sample all wines that apply for AC status. Wines that meet all seven of these criteria are entitled to use the phrase appellation Contrôlée on their labels; not following these regulations disqualifies a wine from AC status. Multiple ACs can exist within the geographic area of a larger AC. Such is the case with the Pauillac AC, which is within the Haut-Médoc AC, which is within the Bordeaux AC. Generally, the smaller ACs produce the highest-quality wines. The categories below Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée are, from top to bottom: Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure, vin de pays, and vin de table. Although the French system is being paralleled by other countries, so far none seem to be as successful. These include the American Viticultural Area (AVA) in the United States, the Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) in Italy, the Denominação de Origem Controlada (DOC) in Portugal, and the Denominación de Origen (DO) in Spain.