sentences:  Formerly known as Costières du Gard, a VDQS, the wine achieved AOC status in 1986 and was renamed Costières de Nîmes 1989.In 1998 the growers' organization (the syndicate) requested that the appellation should be attached to the Rhône wine region as their wines are more reflective of the typical characteristics of Rhône wines than of the Languedoc region to which the area geographically belongs.INAO, the French authority which regulates the country's appellations, assigns each appellation to a regional committee which is in charge of approving wines from that appellation.