Wine, sustainability, and the dynamism of changing lifestyles

Abstract

Economic globalization characterizes the 21st century. A digital world has replaced the analog world. “Time is money, and thinking is money.” Thinking and time are patentable. Branding is a metaphor for a lifestyle change. The “Big Brother” described by Orwell in his novel “1984” is relevant today. We have moved from a world of thoughtful synthesis to one of analysis mediated by “likes,” “thumbs-up,” and “opinion leaders.” Wine, a social marker and cultural base, is being diluted in an interconnected world where it is easy to lose identity, principles, and economic worth (Pareto’s ofelimity). The perception of the value of the wine is changing from a cultural symbol to mercantilism. The pandemic lockdown has shown many fragilities of the wine system, fueling e-commerce and digital search, creating an immediatist, identity-less, and easy-to-disinform society. In general, people talk about “Eco-friendly,” “sustainability,” “climate change,” “resilience,” and more very lightly and without awareness, limiting themselves to hashtags for viral dissemination, influencers, and the transmission of incomplete, easy sensationalism or false documents (fake news). It outlines Italian viticulture at the great crossroads between sustainability established on a value chain or that of semi-finished products and built on years of observation, possible with a paradigm based on years of statistical and empirically significant observation It outlines Italian viticulture at the great crossroads between sustainability established on a value chain or that of semi-finished products, built on years of observation, possible with a paradigm based on statistical and empirically significant observation. By leaving its specific place centered on typicity, wine can become a commodity product, sharing the same destiny as agricultural raw materials.