"The appellation of origin is the common good, which in our appellation syndicates unites large, medium-sized and small owners; these form what I could call the rural democracy of quality" wrote Joseph Capus in 1947. - photo credit: INAO (delimitation of the AOC Châteauneuf-du-Pape in 1936)
It was the ninetieth year for the first French wine AOCs, born in 1936 after the impetus given by Baron Le Roy and Senator Capus to provide the national vineyard with a tool for protecting and enhancing its terroirs.
After the 90th anniversary of the bill of 12 March 1935 (adopted on 30 July 1935) founding the foundations of modern wine appellations and the National Institute of Appellations of Origin (INAO), here is the anniversary of the 1936 decrees creating the first AOC wines. In all, 76 wine appellations were recognised 90 years ago (25 in Bordeaux, 22 in Burgundy, 9 in the Loire Valley... see list below), the first 6 of which were issued by the decree of 15 May 1936: the wines of Arbois, Cassis, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Monbazillac and Tavel, as well as the brandy of Cognac. As reported by the INAO on the occasion of this anniversary, "these first AOCs reflect the desire to preserve local know-how and to protect themselves against competition and fraud. They announce the gradual creation of a national system of appellations. »
A collective construction carried out and thought out in particular by a Rhône winegrower, Baron Pierre Le Roy de Boiseaumarié, and by a senator from Bordeaux, Joseph Capus*. In a letter dated 18 January 1936 archived by the INAO, the former, then president of the Syndicat général des vignerons des Côtes-du-Rhône, sent the latter, then president of the National Committee of Appellations of Origin (CNAO), the map delimiting the AOC vineyard of Châteauneuf-du-Pape following the delimitation process conducted by the Vaucluse court. As indicated in an archive of the Côtes-du-Rhône union, once the "charter of wines with controlled designation of origin" was created in 1935, it was necessary in 1936 to "define the conditions of production of wines and eaux-de-vie with controlled designation" before looking at the "definition of the conditions of production of regulated eaux-de-vie, determination of wines of superior quality, deepening of control with the grape variety sheet, authorisation of new plantings, development of a "foreign" service, monitoring of foreign usurpations of the names of our appellations, etc. »
The 76 nonagenarian AOCs in 2026:
As exhaustive as possible, here is the list of these 76 AOCs, without distinction of colour (dry white, rosé... except Bordeaux claret), but using the current AOC terminology.
Beaujolais
- Chénas
- Chiroubles
- Flowery
- Morgon
- Windmill
Bordeaux
- Barsac
- Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux
- Bordeaux
- Bordeaux clairet
- Cerons
- Côtes de Bourg
- Francs Côtes de Bordeaux
- Haut-Médoc
- Lalande de Pomerol
- Loupiac
- Lussac-Saint-Emilion
- Margaux
- Médoc
- Saint-Emilion Mountain
- Néac (attached in 1954 to the AOC Lalande-de-Pomerol)
- Pauillac
- Pomerol
- Puisseguin Saint-Emilion
- Saint-Emilion
- Saint-Emilion Grand Cru
- Saint-Estèphe
- Saint-Georges Saint-Emilion
- Saint-Julien
- Sainte-Croix-du-Mont
- Sauternes
Burgundy
- Beaune
- Bonnes-Mares
- Chambolle-Musigny
- Clos de la Roche
- Clos Saint-Denis
- Fixin
- Gevrey-Chambertin
- Grands Echezeaux
- The Grande Rue
- Romanée
- The task
- Mercurey
- Montagny
- Morey-Saint-Denis
- Musigny
- Pommard
- Pouilly-Fuissé
- Richebourg
- Romanée-Conti
- Romanée-Saint-Vivant
- Vosne-Romanée
- Vougeot
Champagne
- Champagne
Jura
- Arbois
- Château-Chalon
Languedoc-Roussillon
- Banyuls
- Frontignan
- Muscat de Frontignan
Provence
- Blackcurrant
Loire Valley
- Anjou
- Anjou-Gamay
- Muscadet Coteaux de la Loire
- Muscadet Sèvre et Maine
- Quincy
- Sancerre
- Saumur
- Saumur-Champigny
- Vouvray
Rhone Valley
- Château-Grillet
- Châteauneuf-du-Pape
- Saint-Péray
- Tavel
South-West
- Bergerac
- Côtes de Bergerac
- Jurançon
- Monbazillac
*: But also worked by other personalities, such as the deputy Édouard Barthe (Hérault).
Article Vitisphere, Alexander Abellan January 9 2026
