Narrating terroir: the place-making of wine in China’s southwest

Abstract

ABSTRACTChina has now become one of the world’s top wine producing and consuming nations. Within this booming wine trend, terroir has played a central role to define the place of wine production, which is not only recognizable as an economic strategy but serves as the guarantor of the place and its reputation. This study, which presents the findings of fieldwork into wine production in China’s southwest province of Yunnan, argues that the terroir is the result of social crafting and construction by the process of narrative. Here, narrative can serve to delimit the distinctive terroir (Fengtu风土in Chinese) of a particular place; further, this special attribution will help determine the value, identity, and renown that defines the particular area. This interaction, which is explored, is here termed “narrating terroir.” It is a dynamic that not only encompasses the particular things within a specific place, but contributes to the development of the place as a result of political, economic, and cultural agency. More specifically, the article also attempts to uncover how this interrelationship serves wine commerce by placing it firmly within the contemporary Chinese context.