The ‘wine revolution’ in the United States, 1960–1980: Narratives and category creation

Abstract

This article examines the creation of product categories as a cultural construct. Categories serve not simply to classify different products but also to signify one’s taste. To examine how categories became embedded with cultural meanings, this article takes an interdisciplinary approach: the narrative analysis which has been employed by a number of business historians and the production of culture perspective used in sociology. By using the case of the U.S. wine industry during the 1960s and 1970s, the article analyzes how the six facets proposed in the production of culture perspective – regulation, industry structure, organizational structure, occupational careers, technology, and markets – both constrained and promoted the constitution of a wine category and its dissemination. It argues that these two analytical frameworks help delineate the working of business practices in the dynamics of cultural systems without reducing culture or business to a static structure.