Qualifying tradition: Instituted practices in the making of the organic wine market in Languedoc‐Roussillon, France

Abstract

Within France, the Languedoc‐Roussillon region (now part of Occitanie) is home to about one third of the nation's area of certified organic vineyards. Each year, the world's largest organic wine fair, Millésime Bio, takes place in the city of Montpellier. This trade fair is an important site where organic wine is not only sold but also given meaning in the market, and importantly, differentiated from but made commensurate with conventional wine. In this paper, we examine processes and practices of ‘qualifying’ organic wine, including by means of relational processes of association and dissociation. Drawing on collaborative event ethnography and other qualitative methods, we focus on individual and institutional actors engaged in creating forms of commodified meanings that circulate with organic wine. In Languedoc‐Roussillon, these meanings reflect and reinforce a longer‐term so‐called shift to quality in wine production, yet also emphasize continuity over change, particularly through emphasis on ongoing role of artisanal, independent growers. We argue that qualification thereby works not only through association with independent growers but also by dissociation, specifically from Languedoc‐Roussillon's agrarian tradition of generic wine production and from the central role played by wine cooperatives in the social reproduction of the region's small‐holding grower class.

‘Le terroir, c’est la vie’: Re-animating a concept among Burgundy’s wine producers

“…This was made clear by Mr D, who agreed that he found a better expression of terroir with biodynamism; it was implied, through reference to a vitalist agricultural philosophy, by Mr G when he remarked that ‘ le terroir, c’est la vie ’ (terroir is life). It is a claim aired in the media, in Bravo-Maza’s (2010) televised film Quatre Saisons à la Romanée-Conti , for example; and it is beginning to be examined by scholars, such as Pouzenc and Vincq (2013) and Prudham and MacDonald (2020). Arguing for the benefits of natural, i.e.…”

“…Buller and Morris, 2004), though their success is not assured. It is therefore incumbent upon producers to make the case for their chosen methods, whether to consumers directly or through marketing materials, so that their wines might attain an acceptable economic value in addition to reflecting the more symbolic value of their place within a celebrated and storied wine-producing region (Callon et al., 2007; Prudham and MacDonald, 2020; cf. Bourdieu, 1977; Harvey et al., 2004; Ibert et al., 2019).…”

“…Dissenters from the geographically differentiated and hierarchical nature of terroir are to be found in French history (e.g. the socialist cooperative grape growers of the Languedoc; Bohling, 2018; Prudham and MacDonald, 2020) as well as in the present day (e.g. those who do not ‘venerate the moral or cultural value of wine’ in Provence; Gade, 2004: 861; see also Josling, 2006).…”

“…A certain amount of ethnographic research on the experiences of organic wine producers has been undertaken elsewhere in France with producers in the Jura and Alsace regions (Boulanger-Fassier, 2007), Bordeaux and Châteauneuf-du-Pape (Célérier, 2014) and the south-west of the country (Houard, 2011; Pouzenc and Vincq, 2013; Prudham and MacDonald, 2020), as well as a large-scale project investigating moves towards environmental sustainability in wine production in France (Teil et al., 2011) and a national market overview (Mercier, 2016). Burgundy, however, has not received much academic attention in that respect, despite hosting over 350 organic and over 25 biodynamic wine producers (Bio Bourgogne, 2019; Demeter France, 2019a), and despite the high perceived value of its wines and the apparent antiquity of its terroirs.…”

A Participatory Analysis of the Control and Certification System in the Italian Organic Rice Value Chain

“…The question of ethics [23,24]; the local, community-based dimension [19]; a stronger connection between farmers and consumers, and more generally between the actors of the supply chain and the local communities and territories [4,5]; and relational processes of association and dissociation [25] play an important role in the evolution of organic farming and the related CCS. The possibility of dialogue between government and private intervention is another useful element of regulatory capabilities of the organic sector [26].…”