Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-jr42d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T09:33:52.745Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The quality of wine between innovation and tradition. A study of a changing ‘Mediterranean drinking culture’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2021

Franca Beccaria Open the ORCID record for Franca Beccaria [Opens in a new window]  and
Albertina Pretto
Franca Beccaria*
Affiliation:
Eclectica Institute for Research and Training, Turin, Italy and Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
Albertina Pretto*
Affiliation:
Italian Society for the Sociology of Health, Bologna, Italy
*
*Email: beccaria@eclectica.it
**Email: albertina.pretto@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Wine consumption is affected by intertwined needs generated by factors such as production and marketing methods, as well as by the individual's desire for social differentiation in a democratised mass drinking culture. Our study sought to determine whether consumption patterns have changed in the Italian province of Trentino and how such changes may have affected the meaning that wine drinkers living in this area assign to the concept of quality in wine. The paper presents a qualitative study (n=57 interviews) carried out in a wine producing region in north-east Italy. In addition to investigating the changes that have taken place in the area's wine drinking culture, the study also focuses on how consumers perceive and define wine quality. The findings show that economic, political and social factors have brought major changes in drinking culture and consumption over the last 50 years. In addition, changes in the wine industry have had a significant impact on how consumers’ views on wine quality and its key features have evolved. Nevertheless, the study found that some traditional aspects persist in the drinking culture and still determine the perception of quality.

All'interno dell'attuale cultura del bere, i consumi risentono dell'intreccio di bisogni generati da diversi fattori, quali le modalità di produzione e il marketing, nonché la necessità di differenziarsi socialmente anche in un contesto ormai caratterizzato da consumi di massa. La ricerca qui presentata intende verificare se, anche in Trentino – una provincia italiana situata nel nord-est del paese - siano cambiati i modelli di consumo e come questo cambiamento abbia influito sulla percezione della qualità di questo prodotto da parte dei consumatori. Lo studio è stato effettuato in un territorio dedito alla viticoltura e alla produzione vinicola nel quale sono state raccolte 57 interviste qualitative. Dopo aver verificato le trasformazioni avvenute nella cultura del bere, l'articolo si focalizza anche sulla definizione della qualità del vino nell'ottica dei partecipanti. I risultati indicano come la cultura del bere e i consumi siano cambiati notevolmente negli ultimi 50 anni a causa di fattori economici, politici e sociali. Inoltre, le modifiche legate alla produzione e all'industria del vino hanno influenzato in modo significativo l'evoluzione della definizione della qualità del vino e delle sue caratteristiche nella mente dei consumatori. Ciononostante, la ricerca rivela che alcuni aspetti tradizionali persistono nella cultura del bere e, ancora oggi, appaiono determinanti nella percezione della qualità.

Keywords

drinking cultureItalydrinking changesqualitative researchconsumption theorieswine
Type
Research Articles
Information
Modern Italy , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , February 2021 , pp. 67 - 78
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for the Study of Modern Italy

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allamani, A. and Beccaria, F.. 2007. ‘Editors’ Introduction: Changes in the Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages in Italy. Studies of the Decrease in Consumption between 1970 and 2000’. Contemporary Drug Problems 34 (2), 183–6. doi: 10.1177/009145090703400202CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allamani, A., Beccaria, F. and Voller, F.. 2010. ‘The Puzzle of Italian Drinking’. Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 27 (5), 465–78. https://doi.org/10.1177/145507251002700504CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allamani, A., Pepe, P., Baccini, M., Baccini, G. and Voller, F.. 2014. ‘Europe. An Analysis of Changes in the Consumption of Alcoholic Beverages: The Interaction Among Consumption, Related Harms, Contextual Factors and Alcoholic Beverage Control Policies’. Substance Use & Misuse 49 (12), 1642–1715. https://doi.org/10.3109/10826084.2014.925314CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Allamani, A., Beccaria, F. and Einstein, S.. 2017. ‘A Commentary on the Limits of Alcoholic Beverage Policies’. Alcohol and Alcoholism 52 (6), 706–14. doi: 10.1093/alcalc/agx048Google ScholarPubMed
Bagnasco, A., Barbagli, M. and Cavalli, A.. 2007. Corso di Sociologia. Bologna: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
Baiocco, R., D'Alessio, M. and Laghi, F.. 2008. I giovani e l'alcol. Il fenomeno del Binge Drinking. Rome: Carocci.Google Scholar
Beccaria, F., ed. 2010. Alcol e generazioni. Cambiamenti di stile e stili in cambiamento in Italia e in Finlandia. Rome: Carocci.Google Scholar
Beccaria, F. 2013. Alcol e giovani: Riflettere prima dell'uso. Florence: Giunti.Google Scholar
Beccaria, F., ed. 2016. La rivoluzione del bere. L'alcol come esperienza culturale. Rome: Carocci.Google Scholar
Beccaria, F. and Prina, F.. 1996. ‘Le dimensioni culturali e sociali dell'alcol’. In Alcologia, edited by Moiraghi Ruggenini, A., 17–58. Milan: Elsevier-Masson.Google Scholar
Beccaria, F., Petrilli, E. and Rolando, S.. 2015. ‘Binge Drinking vs. Drunkenness. The Questionable Threshold of Excess for Young Italians’. Journal of Youth Studies 18 (7): 823–38. doi: 10.1080/13676261.2014.992321CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beccaria, F. and Rolando, S.. 2015. ‘The Italian Politics of Alcohol: The Creation of a Public Arena at the End of the 20th Century’. International Journal of Drug Policy 26 (7): 662–9. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2014.10.008Google ScholarPubMed
Beccaria, F. and Rolando, S.. 2016. ‘The More You Know, the Better You Drink: The New Drinking Culture in Italian Wine Production Areas’. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy 23 (4): 293–301. doi:10.3109/09687637.2016.1149149Google Scholar
Bertaux, D. 1998. Les Récits de vie. Paris: Editions Nathan.Google Scholar
Bonino, S., Cattelino, E. and Ciairano, S.. 2005. Adolescent and Risk. Behaviors, Functions and Protective Factors. Milan: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Bourdieu, P. 1984. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Buseghin, M.L. 1992. Buon vino, favola lunga. Vite e vino nei proverbi delle regioni italiane. Perugia: Electa.Google Scholar
Collicelli, C. 2010. ‘Italian Lifestyles and Drinking Culture’. Salute e società 9 (3): 17–42.Google Scholar
CVPT (Comitato Vitivinicolo della Provincia di Trento). 1954. Indirizzo viticolo per la provincia di Trento. Trento: Arti Grafiche Saturnia.Google Scholar
Demazière, D. and Dubar, C.. 1997. Analyser les entretiens biographiques. Paris: Editions Nathan.Google Scholar
Demossier, M. 2010. Wine Drinking Culture in France? A National Myth or a Modern Passion? Cardiff: University of Wales Press.Google Scholar
Donovan, J.E., and Molina, B.S.. 2008. ‘Children's Introduction to Alcohol Use: Sips and Tastes’. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 32 (1), 108–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-0277.2007.00565.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Douglas, M. 1987. How Institutions Think. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.Google Scholar
Favretto, A.R., and Sarzotti, C.. 1992. Complessità e trasformazione nella costruzione sociale dell'immagine dell'alcool. In Le culture dell'alcool. Sociologia del bere quotidiano tra teoria e intervento, edited by Cottino, A. and Rolli, A., 170–83. Milan: Franco Angeli.Google Scholar
Griessmair, H. 1989. Il museo Provinciale del Vino. Bolzano: Athesia.Google Scholar
Guarino, F. 2010. Alcol e stile giovane. Un'interpretazione sociologica. Milan: Franco Angeli.Google Scholar
Hames, G. 2012. Alcohol in World History. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Harvey, M., McMeekin, A. and Warde, A.. 2010. Qualities of Food. Manchester: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Illich, I. 1978. Toward a History of Needs. New York: Pantheon.Google Scholar
Mascarello, G., Pinto, A., Parise, N., Crovato, S. and Ravarotto, L.. 2015. ‘The Perception of Food Quality. Profiling Italian Consumers’. Appetite 89 (1), 175–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2015.02.014CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olson, J.C., and Jacoby, J.. 1972. Cue Utilization in the Quality Perception Process. In Proceedings of the Third Annual Conference of the Association for Consumer Research, edited by Venkatesan, M., 177–9. Chicago: University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Pollini, G., Pretto, A. and Rovati, G.. 2012. L'Italia nell'Europa: i valori tra persistenze e trasformazioni. Milan: Franco Angeli.Google Scholar
Pretto, A. 2011a. ‘Italian Sociologists’ Approach to Qualitative Interviews’. Bulletin of Sociological Methodology 112 (1): 71–83. https://doi.org/10.1177/0759106311417543CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pretto, A. 2011b. ‘Analizar las historias de vida: reflexiones metodológicas y epistemológicas’. Tabula Rasa. Revista de Humanidades 15 (July-December): 171–94. http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=39622587010CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pretto, A. 2013. Travel Stories: Sustainable and Unaware Tourists. In From Sustainable Tourism to Corporate Social Responsibility, edited by La Torre, M.A., 495–514. Naples: Suor Orsola Benincasa University Press.Google Scholar
Rolando, S., Beccaria, F., Tigerstedt, C. and Törrönen, J.. 2012. ‘First Drink: What Does It Mean? The Alcohol Socialization Process in Different Drinking Cultures’. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy 19 (3), 201–12. doi: 10.3109/09687637.2012.658105Google Scholar
Rolando, S., and Katainen, A.. 2014. ‘Images of Alcoholism among Adolescents in Individualistic and Collectivistic Geographies’. Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 31 (2), 189–206. https://doi.org/10.2478/nsad-2014-0015Google Scholar
Rolando, S., and Beccaria, F.. 2016. ‘Tradizione ed evoluzione negli stili di consumo e nella trasmissione del sapere’. In La rivoluzione del bere. L'alcol come esperienza culturale, edited by Beccaria, F., 47–105. Rome: Carocci.Google Scholar
Room, R. 1989. Responses to Alcohol-Related Problems in an International Perspective: Characterizing and Explaining Cultural Wetness and Dryness. Paper at international conference La ricerca italiana sulle bevande alcoliche nel confronto internazionale, Santo Stefano Belbo, Italy, 22–23 September.Google Scholar
Room, R. 2010. ‘Dry and Wet Cultures in the Age of Globalization’. Salute e Società 10 (3): 229–238.Google Scholar
Rössel, J., and Pape, S.. 2016. ‘Who Has a Wine-Identity? Consumption Practices between Distinction and Democratization’. Journal of Consumer Culture 16 (2), 614–32. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540514536192Google Scholar
Stefanini, M., and Tomasi, T.. 2010. Antichi vitigni del Trentino. San Michele all'Adige (TN): Fondazione Edmund Mach.Google Scholar
Strauss, A., and Corbin, J.. 1990. Basics of Qualitative Research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Unwin, T. 2005. Wine and the Vine: An Historical Geography of Viticulture and the Wine Trade. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Veblen, T.B. 1924. The Theory of the Leisure Class. London: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Verdú Jover, A.J., Lloréns Montes, F.J., and Fuentes Fuentes, M.M.. 2004. ‘Measuring Perceptions of Quality in Food Products: The Case of Red Wine’. Food Quality and Preference 15(5), 453–469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2003.08.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WHO. 2019. Global Information System on Alcohol and Health. Global Health Observatory Data Repository. Available at: http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.GISAH?lang=en (accessed 26 December 2019).Google Scholar