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When you picture yourself drinking a
glass of wine, what do you imagine? Are you sitting somewhere outside, on a
porch with a nice view, or inside in a classy restaurant eating by candlelight?
Or perhaps you’re at home, relaxing by the fire with a glass of chianti to
pair with a plate of aged parmesan cheese? Regardless, many people often associate wine
with a clean, calm, elegant, peaceful setting. Why is this? Why do we associate this specific
beverage with upper-class life? Perhaps it’s because wine often is marketed as
the spirit of choice that people with money in lavish locations often enjoy.
Wine is seen as an indulgence. At least, this seems to
be the case in the United States. Here, we tend to think highly of wine, and it’s not hard to find
someone who collects it and considers themselves a connoisseur. We associate
wine with money, and the quality of wine is often judged by how much it costs.
While this may be the American perspective of wine, is this how wine is viewed
in other countries and cultures?
First, let’s take a quick look at the
top wine-producing countries in the world. According to the below figure, the
top countries are listed as follows:
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Italy, France, Spain, United States, Chile,
China, Argentina, Australia, and South Africa (as of 2015). These are typically
the main countries you will see listed on the aisles of any medium to
large-sized liquor store.
If we journey to Italy, you will see a
difference in how wine is viewed by the general public. In Italy, wine is
treated much more casually. People drink wine during lunch, typically following
water at most meals. The cost of wine is also far less – it’s not uncommon to
be able to purchase a bottle for 4 euros (which is equivalent to approximately 4.47 USD), when the average bottle of wine in the U.S. costs around 10-12
dollars. Perhaps this is because Italy is one of the world’s largest wine producers, so
its abundance and accessibility may make it seem less exclusive, although the United States is in the top five production companies as well.
Each country has certain
characteristics that are embodied in their wine, all based on a number of
factors surrounding that country and its identity. Wine produced in California
tends to differ from wine produced in Chile, for example, due to the different
grapes that grow in each climate, which make Chilean wines have a different taste and composition than most French wines. Since wine is such a globalized commodity, someone in America can taste wines from any of these countries without even having to travel. This, in
its own way, can be seen a form of intercultural communication.
Culture can mean a number of things,
but generally the word brings to mind the following ways that culture can be
demonstrated: food, location, agriculture, economy, and climate. All of these
factors affect wine – how it’s produced, how it tastes, how much it costs, and
how it is consumed. With a wide variety of wines available from many areas of the world that embody elements of
other cultures, we are given a taste of another culture.
So, whether you prefer wine, beer, or
water, it’s interesting to look at the globalization of wine and how widespread
and diverse its culture can be.
By: Rachel Levitt
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