What does DOP mean?
DOP is the EU's protected designation of origin in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, covering national levels such as DOC, DOCG, DO and DOCa.
Also known as: Denominazione di Origine Protetta, Denominación de Origen Protegida, PDO
DOP is the abbreviation for the EU's protected designation of origin in Italian (Denominazione di Origine Protetta), Spanish (Denominación de Origen Protegida) and Portuguese (Denominação de Origem Protegida). It corresponds to AOP in France and PDO in English.
DOP is an umbrella level. In Italy both DOC and DOCG fall under DOP, and in Spain DO, DOCa and Vino de Pago among others. The producer can choose to put the national designation, the EU designation or both on the label, which is why the same kind of wine may appear as DOC on one bottle and DOP on another.
The requirements for a protected designation of origin are stricter than for a protected geographical indication. All the grapes must come from the defined area, the wine must be made there and its character must be essentially due to the place's natural and human factors. Each DOP has a product specification with rules on grapes, yields and winemaking.
The system entered EU wine law in 2009. DOP on the label shows that the wine belongs to the top level for origin, but not which of the national levels.