THE INSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF WINE IN BRAZIL

Abstract

This article presents the history of wine industry in Serra Gaúcha and in Vale do São Francisco through the lens of the Institutional Economics. I suggest three institutional dimensions that are usually highlighted by Institutional Economics' seminal authors, namely, rules of the game, mental models, and organizations. This article's objective is to tell the history of wine in Brazil and to compare the different motives for wine production in those two Brazilian regions. The question proposed in this article is: which institutional dimension was more important for the emergence of a wine industry in Serra Gaúcha and in Vale do São Francisco? The hypothesis is that not only government policies were important for the emergence of a wine industry in Vale do São Francisco, but the know-how acquired in winegrowing in Serra Gaúcha was also substantial. Throughout this paper, other Brazilian wine producing regions may be also considered. This article is divided in three parts, besides the Introduction and the Conclusion. In the first section, the institutionalist theory and the three institutional dimensions will be presented. The second section tells the history of wine in the Serra Gaúcha. Finally, the third section presents the motives for a wine industry in São Francisco Valley.