Markets, prices and symbolic value: grands crus and the challenges of global markets

Abstract

Certain authors have drawn attention to the fact that competition between businesses has taken the form of competition for the power over regulation and the imposition of a particular style of production. The dominant businesses can thus create barriers to those entering the market, which can either be cultural or legal. The strategies employed essentially consist of establishing norms of production which prevent competitors from entering the market in such a way that competition, as Simmel refers to it, never takes the form of direct fonflict. By examining the French wine industry, the aim of this work is to investigate how this form of market control, which is only favourable for a certain number of businesses, can be brought into question. Given that it is usually technological innovation which is responsible for the transformation of the market forces involved with industrially produced products, the wine market is very interesting to study as such innovation is often excluded through the institutionalisation of scarcity. This institutionalisation is constructed on the valorisation of ‘traditional’ methods and the delimitation of certain privileged zones of production. How can such rules which attribute the principle of non-reproductibility to history and nature be brought into question? Firstly, we can investigate the specificity of newcomers to the market who are capable of destabilising the current norms of production. We can also investigate whether we should attribute such questioning of the dominant norms to the particular distinctive properties of said norms, or whether we need to take into account other relevant transformations occurring in a wider social context. Notable examples of such transformations are the increase in standing of oenology from mere knowledge to the status of a science with its recognised professions, the reorganisation of rural space and the reorganisation of market structures, in particular the social composition of demand.

Keywords:

• globalisation
• market
• quality
• competition
• wine

Notes

1. This idea, extensively developed in the work of Neil Fliegstein in The Architecture of the Markets, has been analysed by Pierre Bourdieu (1990, 1997). Weber (1990) [1898]) and Swedberg (2004).

2. Agra-Industrie, the week of 19 June 2003, ‘Vin: le modèle français en question’: the French wine model is put into question by the success of the competition arising from new vineyards with no historical tradition. Land or brand, a red herring or a real concern?

3. Bartoli and Boulet (1990), Boyer (1990), Berger (1978), and Laferté (2006).

4. Cf. amongst others, Pigouche (1999).

5. Robinson (1999).

6. Terroir refers to a combination of soil and climate features associated with a specific wine making culture (translator's note).

7. In this article, ‘Anglo-Saxon’ is used within the French acceptation of the term. It refers to the English-speaking world and more specifically here, to matters related to the United Kingdom and the United States of America (translator's note).

8. In 1978 the supermarket chains Leclerc and Auchan simultaneously launched wine fairs in their shops with grands crus as incentive products. Followed by their competitors in the 1990s, they then began to compete with the Nicolas chain, the market leader amongst French wine retailers. Currently, 70% of AOC wines are distributed through large-scale chain stores which rely to a large extent on the distinctions established by guides.

9. A priori, one may be surprised by the increase in the number of AOCs, which goes against the principle of institutionalised rarity. These forms of recognition need to be analysed in further detail. The increasing participation of the state in the national commission since the 1970s can be seen in the political decisions affecting these forms of recognition and which are a response to the concern for full employment and preservation of the environment.

10. For an analysis of the process of valorisation of Chinon wines, cf. Garcia-Parpet (2001). The AOC classification system comprises more distinctive sub-categories such as AOC village, cru, cru classé, grand cru classé.

11. For an analysis of the Compagnie des Salins du Midi, cf. Pech (1975).

12. Smith (1975); Loubère (1974).

13. In 1976 at Montredon, a demonstrator and a representative of the law were killed. A description of the period is given by Emmanuel Maffre-Baugé; cf. Maffre-Baugé (1976).

14. In 1982, wines of Saint-Chinian, classed as Vins Délimités de Qualité Supérieure (VDQS) in 1945, were recognised as an AOC. In 1985, Coteaux du Languedoc, Corbières and Minervois wines achieved the same status. In 20 years, the extent of Languedoc-Roussillon in the total French production of AOC has gone from 5.2% to 12%.

15. Acquier (1996).

16. For an analysis of the valorisation process of Chinon wines, cf. Garcia-Parpet (2001).

17. Further still, it was not until 2001 that the Internet site magnum.vinum introduced this region in its catalogue of French wines.

18. Garcia-Parpet (2003).

19. Cf., for example, L'express, 11 November 1993, ‘Vins de cépage, la déferlante’, Revue Vinicole Internationale, June 1995, dossier ‘Vins de cépage: Prêts, partez!’, Rayon Boissons, December 1996, ‘Les vins de cépage ont la cote’, L.S.A., 1482, ‘l'envolée des vins de cépage’, Viti-226, January 1998, ‘Les vins de pays d'Oc, maîtres du monde?’

20. Cf. Montaigne (1999).

21. Compte rendu de l'Académie d'Agriculture de France, Les vins fins et leur appellation (1993).

22. According to the CCVF, 1996, in 1994 70% of AOC produce and 77% of vins de table produce came from co-operatives. Temple et al. (1996); Chiffoleau (2001).

23. Rayon boisson (1995 ).

24. Guide Nouvel Observateur 2000, p. 94.

25. This is also the case for Louis Latour, the proprietor of Romanée-Conti who was the first to cultivate Chardonnay in the Ardèche region. He noted, ‘I never believed in the evangelical approach to the bond between the Appellation and the terroir’, and protested against the INAO and Brussels who prevented him from planting more vines in the Var. In Le Monde, 10 July 2002 he said, ‘we could easily double our surface area, go from 50 to 100 ha, set up 4 or 5 young winegrowers and provide them with a good income, because we have a mark to export’.

26. Clavel (1985).

27. This selection was commissioned by of the regional trade organisations with the help of the Association de la Sommellerie and the cellarmen of Languedoc-Roussillon. Also taken into account were the most important agricultural competitions and the principal regional and international guides. The document took the form of a large leaflet which stated that ‘over the last ten years regularity has been more heavily emphasised, and a little audacity from a few newcomers brings our list to a close’.

28. Clavel (1991, 1999.

29. This is the case for wine created by Aimé Guibert at Mas de Daumas Gassac, an enterprise described previously, and its top-of-the-market Emile Peynaud vintage which, in 2003, cost 91.50 euros when bought directly from the producer.

30. The reputation of her wines was equivalent to those classed as Côte du Roussillon-village. However, this winemaker was the only one in her commune to produce quality wines and the thinking of the AOC requires a collective standard, therefore denying her the distinction which corresponded to the quality of her wines.

31. To deal with the lack of data concerning numerous producers and to underline the productive potential, we have opted to take the highest price over the last five years in a range of products for each year.

32. In 1998, the Carignan sold for between 8 and 11 euros whereas the AOC wine sold between 5 and 8 euros.

33. Clavel (1991).

34. Revue des vins de France (2003).

35. Gilles Laferté (2006, p. 64) mentions the role of the Revue des vins de France in the conflict between proprietors and dealers, the journal denouncing the practices of improper blending and fraud in Burgundy.

36. In 2003, this wine was sold at around 30 euros per bottle.

37. Laferté (2006, p. 64).

38. Le Monde, 23 August 2002, in a series of articles entitled: La saga des AOC ‘Le vignoble de Saint-Chinian joue les micro terroirs’.

39. Guide du vin du Nouvel Observateur (2002 ).

40. Terre des vins, September, October, November 2003.