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For more than a century Rioja has been considered Spain's preeminent wine region.

Its vineyards run for 75 miles (120 kilometres) along both banks of the Ebro River and cover more than 157,000 acres (63,500 hectares) in the remote interior of northern Spain, with craggy mountains standing in desolation behind them.

Several small mountain ranges and the outlying ridges of the Cantabrian Mountains isolate the region from the moderating Atlantic and shield it from the harshest northern winds, so although Rioja lies only 60 miles from the Bay of Biscay it does NOT have a maritime climate.

DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata, "controlled designation of origin") is Italy's main tier of geographically defined, rule-governed wine production, sitting below DOCG and above IGT and Vino da Tavola in the country's four-tier pyramid established by a 1963 law (modeled on France's AOC system) and later aligned with EU-wide DOP/PDO rules.

DOC rules specify the permitted grape varieties, maximum yields, minimum alcohol levels, and aging requirements for wines from a defined zone.

There are several hundred DOCs across Italy — more numerous than DOCGs — ranging from broad regional appellations to small, specific zones.