History
The oldest known wine laws were created by the Roman emperor Domitian, who c. 92 issued an edict that banned the plantings of any new vineyards in Italy and ordered the uprooting of half of the vineyards in Roman provinces. The purpose of the edict was to improve the food supply of Roman cities by increasing the production of cereals. There is evidence to suggest that Domitian's edict was largely ignored in the Roman provinces. Domitian's edict, while probably not followed to any greater extent, stayed in effect for 188 years until Emperor Probus repealed the measure in 280.
In the Holy Roman Empire, the oldest wine law was created by the Reichstag 1498 to combat wine fraud.
In the wake of the Great French Wine Blight, which led to much wine fraud to supplement diminishing supply, wine laws were created in France to combat fraud. The French wine legislation later evolved to the AOC system, and inspired common European Union regulations.
Read more about this topic: Wine Law
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—David Hume (1711–1776)
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—Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956)