The story of wine is ancient, but it wasn’t until 1937 that Côtes du Rhône became the first wine region legally protected by the French government.** The French developed their structure from successful past examples such as that which created Porto *1 in Portugal in the 1700’s. Because Cotes du Rhone successfully protected (and branded) their style  with this legal desigination; over the next 75 years, thousands of wine regions across the globe have endeavored to do the same.