Manufacturing 'Authenticity' a CASE STUDY of the NIAGARA WINE CLUSTER
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Manufacturing 'Authenticity' A CASE STUDY OF THE NIAGARA WINE CLUSTER Caroline Charest Interdisciplinary MA Program in Popular Culture Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts, Brock University © Caroline Charest, October 2009 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-64571-0 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-64571-0 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1+1 Canada ABSTRACT In this thesis, I use "Fabricating Authenticity," a model developed in the Production of Culture Perspective, to explore the evolving criteria for judging what constitute "real" and authentic Niagara wines, along with the naturalization of these criteria, as the Canadian Niagara wine cluster has come under increasing stress from globalization. Authenticity has been identified as a hallmark of contemporary marketing and important to cultural industries, which can use it for creating meaningful differentiation; making it a renewable resource for securing consumers, increasing market value; and for relationships with key brokers. This is important as free trade and international treaties are making traditional protective barriers, like trade tariffs and markups, obsolete and as governments increasingly allocate industry support via promotion and marketing policies that are directly linked to objectives of city and regional development, which in turn carry real implications for what gets to be judged authentic and inauthentic local culture. This research uses a mixed methods research strategy, drawing upon ethnographic observation, marketing materials, newspaper reports, and secondary data to provide insight into the processes and conflicts over efforts to fabricate authenticity, comparing the periods before and after the passage of NAFTA to the present period. The Niagara wine cluster is a good case in point because it has little natural advantage nor was there a tradition of quality table wine making to facilitate the naturalization of authenticity. Geographic industrial clusters have been found particularly competitive in the global economy and the exploratory case study contributes to our understanding of the dynamic of "fabricating authenticity," building on various theoretical propositions to attempt to derive explanations of how global processes affect strategies to create "authenticity," how these strategies affect cultural homogeneity and heterogeneity at the local level, and how the concept of "cluster" contributes to the process of managing authenticity. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply indebted to my advisor, Professor Nick Baxter-Moore, for his constant support and guidance. Without his help and patience this work would not have been possible. I would also like to thank the members of my committee. Their time and advice is appreciated. I'm especially grateful to Professor Mike Ripmeester for his invaluable and repeated advices on methodology. And my appreciation also goes to my professors at Brock University - Andy Bennett, Sarah Matheson and Jeannette Sloniowski - who greatly enriched my knowledge. I would like to acknowledge the support I got from the people in the wine industry: to Tony Aspler, H. Berberoglu, Richard Best, Linda Bramble, Paul Carfagnini, Beppi Crosariol, Barbara Dodds, David Hulley, Doug Hulley, Stimmell Gord, Natalie Maclean, Fiona Muckle, Billy Munnelly, Larry Paterson, Deborah Pratt, Charlie Richardson John Schreiner, Margaret Swaine, Dean Tudor, Michael Vaughan, Jim Warren and everyone else I might have forgotten, thank you. I must thank Dave Evans and Mary Michaelides from the LCBO archive center for their support. I would also like to thank the library staff at Brock University and the Special Collection, for their tireless efforts, particularly Justine (Alsop) Cotton and Jen Goul, as well as the staff in the Popular Culture program and the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film, especially Amanda Bishop, who have always been there for me. I am also thankful to my fellow students at Brock. Those long conversations were invaluable. Lastly, I would like to thank my life-partner Martin Talbot for his constant support and for endlessly listening to me on the subject of this research. Without him this would have never been possible. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: The Production of Culture, Models and Methods p.1 1. RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS 2. GENERAL IDEAS AND QUALITIES ASSOCIATED TO AUTHENTICITY WITH ITS DYNAMIC 3. DEVELOPING A METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK The Case Study Method Mixed Methods Purposive Sampling to Assure Manageability and Relevance Participant-Observation Method Document Method Corroborating Data with Background Interviews Data Analysis 4. CONCLUDING REFLEXIVELY 5. WHAT IS TO COME Chapter 2: Borrowing Stories (Before 1988) p.27 MAKING NATIVE WINE COMMERCIAL AND AUTHENTIC The selection of traditions: the case of port Certified pure: founding the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) Reflecting an ethic of production through investment in modern technology, standardized production methods and knowledge of winemaking MAKING POPULAR "CHAMPAGNE": THE CASE OF BABY DUCK Simple and innocent pleasure rather than snobbish or immoral POPULAR MERITOCRACY IN RETAIL SETTINGS INTERNATIONAL LAW AND A NEW DELIMITATION BETWEEN THE REAL AND THE FAKE Inventing a connection to tradition: generic place of origin wine label VINIFERA GRAPES AS THE ESSENCE OF TRADITION AND THE FOUNDATION FOR REGIONAL EXPERIMENTATION Showing through inside the bottle: single varietal wines and varietal labelling Reflecting on the origin of the grape Reflecting on a personal ethnic connection to tradition THE NEW LOCAL WINE EXPERT: MAKING AUTHENTICITY ABOUT AESTHETIC REFLEXIVITY, PURITY AND MORAL JUDGMENT Making the authentic a reflexive personal aesthetic judgment Authenticity as moral judgment The "natural" and the invention of vinifera superior quality CONCLUDING CHAPTER2 Chapter 3: Adapting Stories (1989-1999) p.63 RULING VINIFERA GRAPE, AND NOT NATIVE GRAPE, IN MAKING NATIVE WINES AUTHENTICITY AND QUALITY CERTIFICATION: THE VINTNER QUALITY ALLIANCE THE GLOBAL GRAPE AND THE GLOBAL EXPERT CERTIFICATION III PERFORMING AUTHENTICITY IN THE INTIMACY OF WINE TOURISM Reflecting on a personal connection to classic wine regions Personal creativity Reflecting on a Selective and Invented History of Place Material investment Expert certification Transparent winemaking Geographic Specificity Attention to details CONCLUDING CHAPTER3: AUTHENTIC, AS REAL AND SINCERE, AGAINST FAKE OR SNOB FOR MATERIAL GAIN Chapter 4: Inventing New Stories (after 1999) p.92 THE NEW CULT OF SINCERITY Megalomaniac The case of Naked Grape CERTIFIED PLEASURABLE, BOTTLING HOME CELEBRITIE: THE CASE OF DAN AYKROYD THE TASTE OF PLACE THE ROMANTIC COMMUNITY: THE AUTHENTIC NIAGARA EXPERIENCE Reflecting on a Selective and Invented History of Place Time and Place as a Source of Creative Innovation: The Case of Jackson Triggs Estates A Taste of Niagara: Wine Grounded in Culture of Place Drinking the Country Side: Wine Grounded in the Natural Setting of Place Living Winemaking: The Authentic Experience Social Marketing: Reflecting an Ethic of Community in Action Reflecting a Connection to the Canadian Creative Community A Taste of Niagara: Wine Grounded in Culture of Place CONCLUDING CHAPTER 4 Chapter 5: Interpretations and Conclusions p. 131 MEANING AND ATTRIBUTES OF AUTHENTICITY EMERGENT AUTHENTICITY AND GLOBALIZATION Authenticity and homogenization Authenticity and particularization Is it the end of the soft-shell and hard-core cycle? AUTHENTICITY AND THE CLUSTER STRUCTURE CONCLUDING CHAPTER 5 Bibliography p. 143 Appendix A: Methodology p. 150 TABLE 1. Wineries Before 1988: Summary of Data TABLE 2. Wineries After 1988: Summary of Ethnographic