AC or AOC refers to the highest level of the quality control system for French wines. It is an abbreviation of "Appellation d'Origine Contrôllée". All the great French classic wines belong to this group. There are four levels in the system. "Vin de Table" is, as the name suggests, everyday table wine. The next is "Vin de Pays". This quality descriptor was agreed in 1968 and brought into being finally in 1973. It allows newer grape varieties and traditional grape varieties grown in conditions that do not meet the terms of the AOC classification requirements to be assigned a quality standard. Lots of very good wines fall into this category and they are often very competitively priced. Second in the system's pecking order is "Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure" which is abbreviates to VDQS. Many wines are promoted to AOC after starting at this level.
