The Spanish Denominacion de Origen (DO) began in 1932 and has been updated a few times since. Today there are over 60 official D.O.´s. Rioja is the only DOC or denominacion de origen calificada which means that Rioja meets a higher standard of European regulations. Each DO has a governing control board called the "Consejo Regulador" that oversees the viticulture practices and wine making processes. The consejo regulador also determines which grapes are permitted for wine making in their respective DO.

The rules and regulations for a DO are meant as a quality control for wine, but today as wine makers improve and innovate with their techniques, the possibility exists that in making a certain wine they do not want to follow the rules of the consejo regulador of their region. When this is the case the wine in question cannot have the DO stamp on the bottle so then the wine would be called table wine "vino de mesa" even though it is make from a winery that is within a DO. The DO cannot guarantee the wine, the guarantee comes from the winery only. However these wines are usually of a superior standard.