Denominación de Origen, or Designation of Origin (DO), is a Spanish term to classify wines. It is actually similar to other countries classification for wines such as the French appellations or the Italian regulations. Besides wines, also other products related to food can have a Denominación de Origen, these are honey, condiments, olive oil and some meats such as Spanish ham.
When purchasing Spanish wine it’s easy to find the official DO in the back label. If a wine has DO it means it has been produced on the country’s highest quality regions and that it meets quality standards.
Spain has over 60 declared as DO, some of them are DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) but also they can be DOCa/DOQ, meaning Denominación de Origen Calificada (or Denominació d’ origen Qualificada, in Catalan) for wine regions producing with outstanding excellence. Currently there are two regions in Spain labelled under this qualification, Priorat in Catalonia and Rioja.
Among the most prominent DO regions in Spain there are wines produced in Jumilla, Murcia, Campo de Borja, Zaragoza, Jerez-Sherry, Penedès and Priorat in Catalonia, Rías Baixas in Galicia, and Toro in Castilla y León.
To get a DO label a wine needs to be produced in a certain region that has already this appellation but also has to be using certain types of grapes and the manufacturing process is also controlled to ensure maximum quality.
