The Limits of Terroir-as-Heritage in European Viticulture

Dr. Jenny L. Herman, Postdoctoral researcher, Université de Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, EIREST

Co-sponsored by Food and Wine Studies and the Joy and Edward Frieman Environmental Science Center

Romanticized notions of terroir and authenticity play into marketing strategies for protected viticulture regions and the wines they produce, just as the EU-wide geographical indication system reinforces the supposed relationship between tradition, place, and quality. Wines originating from such regions are subject to notions of typicité, wherein a product represents predictable, replicable qualities, thought to be derived from the land and human practices alike. While holding heritage status may be helpful for market competition and attracting tourism, the dependence on notions of timelessness and specificity also restricts winemakers from adapting to contemporary realities. Today, many European vineyards with geographical indications are highly regulated in terms of irrigation, harvest dates, and permitted grape varieties, some of which are increasingly unsuitable for cultivation in their celebrated regions. Areas closely associated with a grape variety (and style) face even greater pressure to remain unchanged, such as pinot noir in Burgundy, or furmint in Tokaj. Consequently, in a time of rapid climate change and globalization, this system, which blends economic protectionism and social conservatism, places pressure on Europe’s wine industries while encouraging intensive cultivation in prized-zones.

Growing season temperatures are projected to rise as much as +3.7 °C in regions around the Mediterranean by 2070, foretelling devastating losses for communities and economies linked to wine production. Monocropping, water-table depletion, soil impoverishment, widespread pesticide usage, excessive emissions and energy consumption, make modern viticulture an environmental burden. Monoculture farming, continuously growing a single crop in the same location, reduces the availability of certain nutrients and degrades the soil. Given that today, agriculture is bound in a global capital system, so too are GI products, whose value is based upon anchoring delimited places to specific products. When a cultural landscape is defined by a single cultivation, it loses its charm.

This ongoing research is part of the Horizon-EU project CONVIVIUM, an interdisciplinary and intersectoral coalition of public and private European partners whose main objective is to bring a cultural dimension to the European Green Deal through the leveraging of the material, semiotic, and symbolic power of food. This talk is linked to the section of the project led by Dr Herman entitled “Reframing Viti-Cultural Landscapes”, and will bring a critical, environmental angle to terroir-logic, and will also provide a hands-on tasting-performance to illustrate the constructed nature of typicité in a changing climate.

Dr. Jenny L. Herman is a researcher and writer focusing on connections between food, the arts, and society. Jenny holds a PhD in Cultural Studies from KU Leuven in Belgium, obtained as an FWO fellow in fundamental research. Jenny’s work incorporates the fields of cultural studies, history, literary theory, and policy analysis, and political ecology, with special focus on culinary heritage, identity, and the intersection of cultural and agricultural policies. Jenny is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the EIREST lab at the University of Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne. 

If you have any questions about the event please contact Professor Christy Shields at cshieldsaup.edu