Book contents
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Dedication
- List of Figures and Tables
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Districts, Networks and Knowledge Brokering
- 2 From the Beginnings to Prohibition
- 3 Post-Prohibition to the 1990s
- 4 Emergence of a Wine Cluster
- 5 Market Growth, Differentiation and Legitimacy
- 6 Cluster Consolidation: Networks, Quality and Wine Tourism
- Conclusion
- Appendix: Interview Questions for North Carolina Winery Owners/Winemakers
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
4 - Emergence of a Wine Cluster
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Dedication
- List of Figures and Tables
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Districts, Networks and Knowledge Brokering
- 2 From the Beginnings to Prohibition
- 3 Post-Prohibition to the 1990s
- 4 Emergence of a Wine Cluster
- 5 Market Growth, Differentiation and Legitimacy
- 6 Cluster Consolidation: Networks, Quality and Wine Tourism
- Conclusion
- Appendix: Interview Questions for North Carolina Winery Owners/Winemakers
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
Farmers growing conventional crops like tobacco, soy beans, etc. are faced today with the sure prospect that prices for their products are to fall even lower and massive government support is in a steady decline as the Nation struggles with a mounting deficit. It is therefore wise to look for alternative crops to fill the gap. We know of no better way to consider than the ‘new’ agricultural industry of growing the great European varietal grapes that alone make the finest and most expensive wines.
There are farmers who can devote part of their land not being otherwise used to viniculture, and we are seeing a large number of business entrepreneurs who are looking to invest in this healthy, outdoor enterprise that is so different from the every-day work of the office.
R. de Treville Lawrence (1987)When Lawrence wrote the above he was speaking as a lobbyist for the Virginia-based Vinifera Wine Growers Association, which sponsored seminars, festivals and sundry meetings designed to teach people how to grow vinifera grapes successfully in the mid-south and move away from hybrids. Like many of his predecessors he was making an appeal for winemaking based upon economic logic, recognizing quite presciently perhaps that some of the agricultural staples of North Carolina were facing decline. The mainstay of many small farms that dotted the North Carolina landscape, tobacco had proved a resilient crop because demand was fairly predictable, raw material costs minimal and the dollar value of tobacco yields quite high.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Modern American Wine IndustryMarket Formation and Growth in North Carolina, pp. 75 - 102Publisher: Pickering & ChattoFirst published in: 2014