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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Wine and Terroir(s) : an Identity between Myth and reality

subject

description

To speak about wine is obviously a sign of socialization, but is also a trend, which is part of the global interest in gastronomy. In order to build up discourses on wine, which heavily draw on marketing communication, referring to AOP and AOC labels and classifications does seem to be necessary but not sufficient, as the notion of ‘terroir’ has become prominent in many discourses and on a variety of media. The crave for authenticity and proximity permeates gastronomy and oenology markets, and the idea of terroir alone seems capable of just responding to this crave. Terroir can be seen as a warrant of identity offered by wine growers and makers, but is also demanded by consumers in quest of nature and countryside, and nostalgic of products from days of yore. How then should we define ‘terroir’ ? How is it promoted in wine discourse ? What kind of representations and images does it convey ? The aim of this article is to investigate on the use of the term ‘terroir’ in a number of specific communication situations in order to map its meaning. We will focus on discourses at work in presentations of book titles in wine literature, in marketing descriptions of wines, and in wine bottle labels, which make us of specific textual or visual resources.