Contemporary Wine Studies

The purchase and consumption of wine, whether in hospitality environments or domestic settings, has huge anthropological significance underpinned by a discourse of wine appreciation. It can be seen as a multi-sensory and symbolically status-rich activity framed by historical, social, cultural and ethical discourses. This innovative book offers a critical study of wine from social and cultural perspectives. The field of wine studies spans the spectrum of cultural and technical issues concerning the place of wine in society from viticulture, vinification, labelling, regulation, marketing, purchasing, storage and its final consumption. It combines social history and contemporary questions including the notion of terroir, the nature of protected wine designations, the pricing of wine and the different motivations for buying and consuming wine. It considers wine as a beverage, as an aesthetic exercise and as a marker of status, as well as health implications and legal controls. The title offers a timely contribution into the significance of wine and the role of knowledge, both of which have conceptual and managerial implications in terms of marketing, promotion, consumption and distribution. By offering a holistic and innovative understanding of wine and its consumption, it is a must-read for students and scholars in the fields of wine and social science.

This innovative book offers a through critical study of wine from the social, cultural and anthropological perspectives, with a focus on the translation from theory to influencing industry practice.

The purchase and consumption of wine, whether in hospitality environments or domestic settings, has huge anthropological significance underpinned by a discourse of wine appreciation. It can be seen as a multi-sensory and symbolically status-rich activity framed by historical, social, cultural and ethical discourses. This innovative book offers a critical study of wine from social and cultural perspectives. The field of wine studies spans the spectrum of cultural and technical issues concerning the place of wine in society from viticulture, vinification, labelling, regulation, marketing, purchasing, storage and its final consumption. It combines social history and contemporary questions including the notion of terroir, the nature of protected wine designations, the pricing of wine and the different motivations for buying and consuming wine. It considers wine as a beverage, as an aesthetic exercise and as a marker of status, as well as health implications and legal controls. The title offers a timely contribution into the significance of wine and the role of knowledge, both of which have conceptual and managerial implications in terms of marketing, promotion, consumption and distribution. By offering a holistic and innovative understanding of wine and its consumption, it is a must-read for students and scholars in the fields of wine and social science.

The Globalization of Wine is a one-stop guide to understanding wine across the world today. Examining a broad range of developments in the wine world, it considers the social, cultural, economic, political and geographical dimensions of wine globalization. It investigates how large-scale changes in production, distribution and consumption are transforming the wine that we drink. Comprehensive background discussion is complemented by vivid case study chapters from a variety of international contributors. Many different countries and regions are covered, including China, the USA and Hong Kong, as are key themes, debates and controversies in contemporary wine worlds. Innovative, up-to-date and interdisciplinary, The Globalization of Wine illustrates the diversity and complexity of wine globalization processes across the planet, both in the past and at the present time. It is essential reading for academics and students in food and drink studies, sociology, anthropology, globalization studies, geography and cultural studies. It also provides a jargon-free resource for wine professionals and connoisseurs.

Contemporary wine marketing practice is changing rapidly due to the intensity of industry competition, the emergence of numerous media options, and the dynamics of market segments. As new wineries emerge onto the global stage, both they and the entrenched firms must remain well-informed and leverage the latest marketing and sales approaches in order to succeed. Contemporary Wine Marketing and Supply Chain Management intricately weaves academic knowledge, practical insights, and firsthand wisdom from wine executives around the world. Drawing on over 200 interviews and visits with winery owners, executives and managers in five countries, industry experts across marketing and supply chain management examine successful marketing frameworks as they apply to growers, wineries, distributors, and retailers. Combined with contemporary expertise in brand management, sales, research, social media, this book explores exciting and effective business practices and offers contemporary marketing ideas that will help wineries thrive.

The link between culture and wine reaches back into the earliest history of humanity. The Routledge Handbook of Wine and Culture brings together a newly comprehensive, interdisciplinary overview of contemporary research and thinking on how wine fits into the cultural frameworks of production, intermediation and consumption. Bringing together many leading researchers engaged in studying these phenomena, it explores the different ways in which wine is constructed as a social artefact and how its representation and use acquire symbolic meaning. Wine can be analysed in different ways by varying disciplines involved in exploring wine and culture (anthropology, economics and business, geography, history and sociology, and as text). The Handbook uses these as lenses to consider how producers, intermediaries and consumers use and create cultural significance. Specifically, the work addresses the following: how wine relates to place, belief systems and accompanying rituals; how it may be used as a marker of the identity and mechanisms of civilising processes (often in conjunction with food and the arts); how its framing intersects with science and nature; the ideologies and power relations which arise around all these activities; and the relation of this to wine markets and public institutions. This is essential reading for researchers and students in education for the wine industry and in the humanities and social sciences engaged in understanding patterns of human ingenuity and interaction, such as sociology, anthropology, economics, health, geography, business, tourism, cultural studies, food studies and history.

Wine is becoming increasingly popular in the Anglophone world and there are many books available which describe how and where it is made. However, none address the fundamental questions of different structures of production and how the consumer relates to the product – this book is the first to do just that. Wine and Society: the cultural and social context of wine production and consumption looks at the relationship between wine production and marketing, focussing in consumer behaviour and cultural attitudes. Divided into four parts, it examines the context of wine production, the wine consumer and the social context of wine, discussing the following themes: * That the core of wine production and consumption is shaped by historical, geographical and cultural factors. * Wine production – European and new world looking at the different kinds of producer and how the varying background of each shapes their perspective on what they produce * Terroir and appellations: why demarcation and sense of place became important, how they are used to achieve marketing differentiation, and the 'benefits’ (or otherwise) to the customer. * The contemporary wine consumer and lifestyle factors – looking at wine clubs, tourism, education, culture and literature * The politics and economics of wine – from supporting rural industries in France to protecting customers from deception and health risks. Suitable for third year and post-graduate students of hospitality, wine (both in production and marketing), wine tourism, gastronomy and related courses, it encourages students to think critically about the issues raised by using real life case studies and examples from around the world, also including press releases and marketing campaigns.

Wine as commodity has received enormous academic attention, while wine as gift has largely eluded significant dedicated research and analysis. This book addresses this lacuna with insights from leading scholars from a range of disciplines exploring wine as gift in different moments of history, across a variety of production to consumption contexts, and across societies and cultures. The book draws on examples from Australia, China, Croatia, France, Italy, Moldova, United Kingdom and Aotearoa New Zealand. Through the analysis of wine as gift, indeed often as a commodity-gift hybrid, this book significantly enhances understandings of the intertwined economic, societal, political and moral aspects of wine and its production, exchange, and consumption. Wine and the Gift: From Production to Consumption will appeal to researchers and undergraduates from a wide range of disciplines, including sociology, history, anthropology, cultural studies, geography, marketing, and business studies.