The AOC Is Dead/Long Live AOP

Ran into my first AOP/Appellation d'Origine Protegee wine today.
What the heck be this??? Now I know:
AOC/AOP

What...no more AOC wines?? Is nothing sacred?? Ohhh....the horrors of it all.
Tom

[David M. Bueker]

Hmph.

[James Roscoe]

Hmph.

meh

Ran into my first AOP/Appellation d'Origine Protegee wine today.
What the heck be this??? Now I know:
AOC/AOP

What...no more AOC wines?? Is nothing sacred?? Ohhh....the horrors of it all.
Tom

I think it's just replacing VDQS.

[Robin Garr]

What...no more AOC wines?? Is nothing sacred?? Ohhh....the horrors of it all.

Tom, I believe that the AOC/AOP choice is optional for France, same's the new IGP vs Vin de Pays, which I wrote about recently:

http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvis ... 130125.php

AOC and AOP don’t actually mean the same thing. One means the appellation of origin is controlled the other means the appellation of origin is protected. As Robin suggested in his article does this mean winemakers could “free” themselves from the “control” and label their wines AOP?

Salute