Appellations of origin are the result of activism on the part of the French wine industry, as part of a quest for quality in fine wines and eaux-de-vie.

Legislation establishing the concept of appellation d'origine did not emerge spontaneously; it is the final fruit of a thirty-year evolution, initiated in 1905, and marked by numerous bills, speeches and reports to Parliament.

The date of August 1, 1905, a founding text for the repression of fraud, also marks the creation of the so-called administrative appellations. On this basis, the administration was charged with delimiting the areas benefiting from an appellation of origin for agricultural production. This law recognized the collective nature of appellations of origin, but contained no provisions relating to quality. This legislation was crucial in protecting wines from the major fraud crisis.

The first decrees concerned the Champagne (1908-1911), Cognac (1909) and Bordeaux (1911) appellations of origin.

To make up for the shortcomings of the 1905 law, the May 6, 1919 law on appellations of origin aimed to protect producers attached to an appellation, thereby establishing a collective right of ownership. Applicable to all types of product, the law simplified administrative procedures, eliminating the need for a prior decree and requiring only a declaration. The law authorized recourse to the courts in the event of a dispute, and enabled trade unions to take action. This step thus marked the creation of the so-called simple or judicial appellations.

Purely geographical use, devoid of quality criteria, led to the development of mediocre wines, resulting in a decline in quality wine production and legal unfair competition, where consumers were often misled about the true quality of the products.

The law of July 22, 1927, amending the 1919 law, attempted to resolve these problems, by prohibiting direct-producing hybrids and taking into account local, loyal and constant production customs. However, it came too late for the wine sector.