Small Winegrowers’ Views on their Relationship with Local Communities

Abstract

This study examines the views of small winery operators in the Canary Islands, Spain and Western Australia regarding their relationship with their local community in such dimensions as event participation, employment and education. Winery operators indicated being actively involved in their local community in different ways. However, some of these interactions can be the source of misunderstandings centring on the informal economies characteristic of rural communities. One key difference between the two regions is that while some Western Australian respondents perceived weak local support in purchasing their wines, Canary Islands respondents indicated selling most of their wines locally. The development and strengthening of relationships between wineries and their community has very important implications, including supporting initiatives to nurture and maintain the community's fabric, encourage further development in local areas, or use wine tourism as a tool to tap into commercial opportunities.

Introduction: Businesses, Wineries and Rural Communities

Global economic restructuring, agricultural adjustment, farm amalgamation, environmental pressures and development of new technologies have all contributed to changes in rural economies throughout the developing and developed world. These changes have placed economic stresses on regional communities, as well as social dislocation, as much of the traditional social interaction of regional communities has been centred around traditional agricultural activities. Some rural communities have looked towards new markets as potential economic alternatives from a general trend of decline in rural based sectors and new opportunities in others. However, to what degree do new enterprises fill the social void created in communities with the demise of traditional industries?

This paper will examine the way that wine producers in two destinations, Western Australia and the Canary Islands, engage with local communities where wine production has emerged as a growing industry. Consequently, such engagement has involved certain challenges in terms of negotiating community expectations that normally surround interactions with producers of traditional goods.

Local wine producers in rural areas interact with local communities in ways to both ensure a supply of labour and a local market for their wine, also through sponsorship and wine tasting. In fact, citing works from Drunwright et al. (2000) and Googins (2002), Boehm (2005) notes that sponsorship, donations, promoting projects or civil partnership, and philanthropic partnerships are some ways for businesses to support communities. However, while in some cases communities reciprocate by supporting local businesses (Kilkenny et al., 1999), such donations and sponsorships can be misunderstood by local communities as forms of charity and gift giving.

However, many communities encourage development in their areas providing infrastructure, grants and loans to attract businesses (Besser and Miller, 2004). This strategy can lead to a win-win situation for the parties involved: “When businesses prosper, the quality of life in the community will be better … a high quality of life in a community will result in more prosperous businesses” (Besser and Miller, 2004: 398–399). Along the same lines, Besser (1999) concluded that “commitment to the community and providing support for the community can be considered strategies for business success” (p. 27). Further, Madden et al. (2006) found that engaging with local communities can help businesses in increasing sales or even in building staff morale (p. 53). Therefore, interactions between rural businesses and the community, as in this case or as Keen (2004) discussed in a case of New Zealand rural tourism operators, not only can be critical but also beneficial.

Literature Review

Wine, Tourism and the Community

One initiative put into practice between wineries and rural communities in many parts of the world to revive rural areas is the development of tourism. Communities’ involvement in tourism can “enhance the tourism experience; and carefully developed tourism can provide economic, environmental and cultural benefit for the community” (Jones, 1993: 147). While on paper a beneficial relationship, the actual outcomes of such initiatives may differ, with some studies identifying contradictory messages about tourism's benefits or its potential drawbacks (Simpson, 2008). In rural areas, the combination of agricultural products and tourism has attracted the interest of regional bodies as a strategy towards development, illustrated in the emergence of agrotourism, a concept investigated in recent years in several European regions (Sharpley, 2002; Parra López and Calero García, 2006; Pulina et al., 2006). Not surprisingly, studies also examine the level of community involvement in tourism (Choi and Sirakaya, 2006; Ballesteros and Ramírez, 2007).

Increased wine production and quality in new wine regions (New World), as well as in Eastern Europe have resulted in new opportunities, including the emergence of wine tourism, a concept based on visitation to vineyards and cellar doors (Hall et al., 2000a, 2000b; O'Neill et al., 2001). Numerous studies conclude that wine tourism is a contributor to rural development and benefactor of rural communities in a number of ways (Gibson and Weinberg, 1980; García Fernández, 1999; Arfini et al., 2002; VanAusdle, 2005).

However, in some cases stronger links among wine and tourism stakeholders are needed to enhance opportunities to develop rural areas (Hall and Mitchell, 2000). The enlargement of the global wine map (Telfer, 2001; Bigongiari, 2003; Jaffe and Pasternak, 2004; Sharples, 2002; Wargenau and Che, 2006; Fensterseifer, 2007) once again demonstrates present and future opportunities for rural areas, tourism and wine.

However, the successful implementation of wine and tourism in rural areas is challenging. For example, local wine industry growth in some regions, including Napa Valley in California, has created negative environmental impacts (Tesconi, 1999; Friedland, 2000). Increased traffic, development and “shift in sense of place” (Griffith, 2007: 18), have occurred as a result of growing tourist numbers. In other parts of the world, as is the case in some New Zealand rural areas (Winestate Magazine, 2005; Law, 2007; Nikiel, 2007) increased prices for rural properties have challenged rural communities experiencing rapid and successful development of their local wine industry. Finally, wine production and recruitment of outside labour to match increasing demand (Beer and Lewis, 2006) can also affect local communities and their resources.

Small Wine Regions

Small Wine Regions in Western Australia

In the first half of 2008, Western Australia was home to 332 wineries with most of these (230 or 75.1%) crushing fewer than 100 tonnes of grapes (Winetitles, 2008), thus fitting into the ‘small size’ category. While undoubtedly Australia's wine industry has achieved major accomplishments in recent times, it is still developing in some ways, particularly as compared to the more settled vineyards of traditional European wine producing countries. For decades now some regions, including Western Australia's Margaret River and Swan Valley have become rural icons, developing their wine and wine tourism industries and attracting many visitors in the process. Because these regions have become well-known for their wine tourism, they have also attracted the attention of many researchers (see for example, Hall et al., 2000b; Macionis and Cambourne, 1998; Charters and Ali-Knight, 2002; Shanka and Taylor, 2004; Yuan et al., 2005; Charters and Fountain, 2006; Taylor, 2006).

Recently, numerous smaller wine regions with enormous potential have emerged, including Blackwood Valley (Bridgetown, Manjimup), Great Southern (Albany, Denmark, Mount Barker and Pemberton), or the Chittering Valley, some 40 minutes drive north of the city of Perth. While these smaller wine regions have been developing in the shadows of the more established Margaret River and Swan Valley, the new players are becoming recognised for the quality of their wines and the uniqueness of their natural environment. Such environment lends itself to the development of wine tourism. Some Great Southern regions, for example, now host wine and food events (Sunday Times, 2006). However, despite being in some ways older and larger in size than Margaret River and Swan Valley, these emerging regions have been explored to a very limited extent by wine tourism researchers.

The Canary Islands

The economy of the Canary Islands is principally based on tourism, an industry that constitutes more than 50% of the Gross Domestic Product (Garín-Muñoz, 2006). In 2007, tourists’ expenses in the Canary Islands accounted for 5.1 billion Euros (Canary Institute of Statistics, 2008). To a lesser extent, but well rooted in Canary history and tradition for centuries, agriculture is a 530 million Euro industry, and mainly comprising grape, banana, and potato production (Canary Institute of Statistics, 2008). The islands have had a long relationship with wine (García Fernández, 1999; El Día, 2001), but a decline in wine production throughout the nineteenth and much of the twentieth century left the islands with a struggling wine industry (García Fernández, 1999). Even so, today as much as 35.8% of land farmed for agriculture is still devoted to grape growing (Agriculture, Farming, Fisheries and Food Council, 2006).

Canary wine industry has improved its quality and commercial potential through much needed introduction of Designation of Origin (DO) status (Sainz, 2002; Martínez-Carrasco et al., 2005). However, perhaps most importantly, old Canary wineries have modernised, introducing more efficient production methods and quality control practices while regulatory councils keep a watchful eye on wine making practices (Godenau and Suárez Sosa, 2002; Godenau et al., 2000). Today, the islands are beginning to experience recognition for some of their almost unique local wines such as Verijadiego, Bremajuelo and Negramoll (Associated Press, 2007). However, it is the Malvasía variety that has most recently contributed to the islands’ increasing international recognition, recently winning an award at the 2007 International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) in London (Feo, 2007; IWSC, 2007). Tourism, which has been the mainstay of the island's economy since its boom in the 1960s, has also offered new opportunities for the wine industry.

The combination of increased wine quality, international recognition for some of its wines and large numbers of tourists suggests the potential for the islands’ wine industry to diversify. However, there are a number of constraints and future challenges affecting the promising prospects of the wine industry. One fundamental limitation is the geographic isolation of the archipelago from external markets that makes shipping of wines costly and slower to reach destinations. This constraint could be considerably minimised through direct sales among the approximately 10 million tourists visiting the islands each year (Canary Institute of Statistics, 2008). Unfortunately, by and large tourists predominantly travel on a low budget package (McLane, 2000), and recent aircraft regulations prevent passengers from carrying wine bottles in their hand luggage, an event that has resulted in significant losses for local wineries (Associated Press, 2007).

Some reports, however, indicate a local initiative launching a designated flight cardboard bottle carrier to transport wines on aircrafts (El Día, 2007), a development that might limit the damage that aircraft regulations have indirectly caused, and provide more business opportunities for local wineries.

Additional constraints are that the hilly terrain where vines are planted and the small size of the majority of the vineyards to a great extent does not allow for mechanisation. As a result, manual work is required to carry out vineyard activities such as harvesting or weeding, with clear challenges for growers in terms of time and labour costs. While the Canary Islands have a rich history of wine production, only a few researchers (see, for example, Godenau and Suárez Sosa, 2002; Godenau et al., 2000; García Fernández, 1999) have attempted to investigate this industry from an academic perspective.

The cases of Western Australia and the Canary Islands emphasise the importance of small rural business and the potential benefits that the wine industry could provide the local rural communities. These cases also underline the importance of a healthy interaction between these two parties, that is, respecting each other's needs and seeking mutual benefits whenever possible. However, a critical area ignored in contemporary research relates to the interaction between winery operators and their local community. Such interaction is fundamental in the relationship between wineries and local communities, and increased knowledge could assist both parties, enhancing their level of understanding, cooperation, and healthy coexistence.

As part of a larger investigation of the development of wine regions and their involvement with the local community, this study explores the interaction between wineries and their surrounding communities from winery operators’ points of views to answer the following fundamental question:

•	What is the relationship between wineries and their local community?

While noticeable differences exist between the two wine regions examined, particularly in terms of historic background, geographic setting and climate, there are some subtle similarities between both that justify the usefulness of a comparative study. For example, while Canary Islands’ wine tradition dates many centuries, only recently (in the 1990s) have local wineries re-developed an ancient industry via quality control measures (Designation of Origin, DO), modernising equipment, and gaining national and international exposure. Western Australian wine regions have also only recently developed and gained recognition for their quality and competitive products. In addition, both regions share similar constraints in that they live in the shadows of much larger competing wine regions, with the emerging Western Australian regions competing with the more developed and popular Margaret River and Swan Valley regions, while the Canary Islands compete with much larger and more known Spanish wine regions, including La Rioja and Penedés. Another similarity is that the large majority of the wineries in these regions are small/family size, and wine tourism is also in its developmental stage in both regions.

Methodology

During May 2007, 61 winery operations that had gained Designation of Origin status were identified in the Canary Islands of La Palma and Tenerife using database search. These businesses were sent letters presenting the objectives of the study and operators were invited to participate in face-to-face interviews at a later stage. At the end of May 2007, one of the researchers travelled to La Palma and Tenerife and established phone contact with the operations. A total of 23 wineries eventually agreed to participate in the study, a 37.7% response rate; 16 of these wineries (69.6%) are open to the public.

A second group of 61 wineries was identified during November 2007 through database search in the Western Australian regions of the Bridgetown, Chittering Valley, Denmark, Manjimup, Mount Barker and Pemberton. These regions were chosen for several reasons. First, the researchers sought to explore new and alternative developing wine tourism destinations, as opposed to the more popular Margaret River and Swan Valley wine regions. Second, the above regions have been only sporadically investigated in wine tourism literature and the researcher's travel allowed for further exploring these regions. Third, lack of knowledge of interactions between the local wineries and communities presented an opportunity for researchers to explore this relatively ignored dimension. Lastly, one of the researcher's travel to investigate other rural operations in these geographic areas provided the opportunity to visit and interview winery operators.

As in the case of Canary Islands’ operations, Western Australian businesses were sent letters inviting operators to participate in the study. Follow-up phone calls were made in early December 2007 to secure operators’ time for a face-to-face or phone interview. In all, 42 (68.9%) businesses agreed to participate, and 37 (88.1%) are open to the public. Travel of one of the researchers to the regions allowed for 36 on-site interviews, 26 prior to the December 2007 holidays and 10 during January 2008; the other six interviews were conducted over the phone during January 2008.

Apart from investigating wineries’ relationship with their local community, the interview questions for both Canary Island and Western Australian wineries also sought to examine operations’ background, their relationship to tourism and business related challenges that operations faced. The length of the interviews, between 15 minutes and an hour, allowed interviewees to answer the questions and, if needed, further comment on aspects affecting the local wine industry and their businesses. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. In the case of Canary Island wineries, interviews were also translated from Spanish into English by the researchers. During the interview process, researchers took notice to avoid potential disturbance to operators, for instance, allowing potential respondents to be interviewed on their terms, including at times when no major work at the vineyards took place.

Results and Discussion

Western Australian Wineries

Providing employment is one way Western Australian operations interact with their local community. This finding is in accord with reports in other parts of the world, including in New World wine regions (Wines of Ontario, 2007; Washington Wine Commission, 2008; Harpers Search, 2007; Napa Valley Vintners, 2005). Provision of employment is also true in the case of Western Australia's wineries (TIAC, 2006).

Despite all wineries being small in size, 17 (40.5%) respondents indicated providing employment in some form, particularly during harvesting. Thus, provision of employment is a critical role that some wineries are fulfilling, particularly, as some respondents indicated, because other local industries are weakening: “Since the decline of the timber industry by default we found ourselves as the largest employer in the region. We wrote about 100 group certificates last year; we interface with the community.” Winery employment provides other benefits for local communities: “… the impact of our business on the local community is enormous, in terms of employing … and also attracting tourists”. Another respondent stated: “I have just started employing local people and I will be employing more when the restaurant opens.”

Participation in local events was also recognised among 17 (40.5%) operators. One operator, for instance, indicated:

we do participate in local festivals. My husband is at a festival nearby at the moment. They are doing a wine tasting op there. And when there [are] other community events we always go to those and do wine tastings. We also sponsor local things like the ambulance, the police golf day, things like that, usually with wine, sometimes with money, but usually wine.

Making donations, participating in fundraising and sponsoring community entities such as children's sport teams were additional important forms of community involvement among Western Australian operators, with also 17 (40.5%) participants acknowledging these initiatives. However, in some cases, a cautious approach was taken:

We sponsor a few local events; if we sponsored everything, we would be giving a great deal of wine away, so we are a bit select on where we go. We will not sponsor underage events … obviously we are looking after our own brand, we do not want to be seen as … we cannot sell to underage people so we do not want to sponsor their events.

Others appeared to support the local community with no clear objective of obtaining gains:

We are involved in the community, in some cases supporting in local events with a stall. We don't really make much money out of it, or we don't make any money out of it. We just support their event and we support the horticultural field days; we support the local marron and trout festival. We also make donations of wine …

An additional comment clearly highlights the significance of providing financial relief as a way for wineries to be present in benevolent community efforts:

Our main involvement with the community is for the fundraising. Whenever there is a raffle; the bowling club needs sponsorship, or the local school. Someone who is sick, you know, the community has a big fundraiser for someone who is ill. We just had one last weekend.

While wine producers interact with the local community in much the same way as other residents, participation at festivals and sponsorship of local groups can be viewed principally as a form of marketing. This can lead to misunderstandings by the local community, who mistakenly view wine producers in terms of the informal economy that is a characteristic of producers in rural Australian communities. Some respondents, however, are concerned by the number of requests from local organisations to be involved in community events: “Being a winery approached with great frequency by local wines and associations who want free wine. It's actually a bit of a problem but we tend to be fairly generous.” A second operator's comment suggests a more passive response to the same situation: “And, you know, sporting clubs … they all think wine grows for free.”

Winegrowers seem frustrated by their local community despite their desire to be involved in community initiatives. Moreover, lack of reciprocity from the community's side, and subsequent difficulties in conducting businesses within the community were underlined:

Many many local people they have visitors come stay with them; they will bring their visitors here. The visitors would buy wine but the locals won't. It's quite bizarre. Everyone knows we are here, local people; almost none of them are wine followers. You can count with two hands the number of regular local customers I have. But all of them, people I have never seen before, will come here because they have some visitors from England or South Australia or wherever, and they will bring them up there because they know we've got a good winemaker, very good reputation and they will come here and say: “This is the best winery in the region” without ever tasting our wine … it's really quite odd.

In this case, the idea of community reciprocity discussed in previous studies (see, for example, Kilkenny et al., 1999), in that “community business entrepreneurs can attract customers who will buy from community-based organizations in preference to other (often non-local) organizations” (Johnstone & Lionais, 2004: 228) appears to hold only in part.

Moreover, the difficulty in creating business links with small local communities was shaping wine growers’ marketing efforts: “Although we sell at a local pub, we do most of the selling ourselves; we don't want people to buy our wines cheaper than they buy them in there.” These situations may not be isolated, but indicate that some locals view wineries in an informal way. For example, locals may not see wine as a premium product but instead as yet another farm produce that they seek to obtain cheaply. However, being a premium item, wine does not lend itself to such informal exchanges in the same way. In addition, in many respects wine producers are more business people and marketers rather than farmers, a different mind-set that, based on operators’ comments, some locals appear to misunderstand, thus leading to potential tensions.

Interaction between Wine Producers and Tourists

Asked about their wineries’ relationship with tourism, respondents’ comments demonstrate that many were increasingly relying on tourism as a way to market their wines and obtain a return on their investment. Some operators indicated achieving significant progress in this area already:

•	“Yes, we had a bus this morning. Some of the eco-tour buses with up to 15 people come through on a regular basis.”
•	“… we are members of the local visitor centre. The main reason being for promotion and marketing.”
•	“Yes, we do have tours. We are actually members of most of the local tourism identities and we also do some tours for these groups as well. So, those people on the tours usually are people who are linked to other tourism operations so it is promotion for us.”

The commercial potential of being able to sell wines to tourists and passers-by had produced commercial benefits:

…we have regulars that come in; tour buses. We also have other things like the four-wheel club; they come down for weekends and they actually camp here in the bush over there, and we do not charge them but they buy a lot of wine … they buy a lot of wine. Lot of cartons go out here, so that is good value. We have other groups, like there is a radio club group; they come down here. Last time they were here they had 60 caravans down here. So, yes, it is pretty good.

Wineries’ proximity to rural attractions also provided an additional advantage to draw tourists to the area:

Yes, we are members of all the tourism associations around the place as well and we network with all the operators, plus we encourage coaches to come here for tastings. Because of our proximity to a local landmark this has been a big plus for us. We get like 100,000 visitors a year here, which is a very good spot for wine tourism.

Other wineries were in the early stages of experiencing with tourism: “We held some tours, about four times, and I plan to do more in the future.” Similarly, other operators that had experienced with tourism were to expand in this area:

We have organised visits. We have some cruise ships calling in in the next couple of years when they come … We also have smaller tours coming through, as well we have not encouraged the bigger bus lines to come through this way. Main reason to be related to tourism is to sell the wines.

We very much so plan on hosting tours for people interested in coming and having a look at the vineyards. We would definitely look at strolling people around as well.

Finally, other operators’ comments suggested that they were developing despite the novelty of wine tourism in their area:

Yes, I mean we have private groups of tourists that come through. There is no tourist industry as such. I mean, the industry is a collection of private individuals, which some come to us in buses, others come to us in cars. We host busloads of tourists coming down this way. The two main functions are brand awareness and the commercial transaction at the time.

Canary Island Wineries

Canary Island wineries interact with their community in a variety of ways, and one of respondents’ main initiatives with the community is, as the case of Western Australian wineries the provision of employment. For example, 10 (43.5%) of the 23 operators interviewed indicated contributing towards the community by providing employment. Community involvement was also demonstrated in the form of participation in local events, with almost half (11, 47.8%) of the participating wineries indicating such involvement. Several comments suggested that participation was out of self-interest:

we try to become involved as much as possible. Of course, we may benefit from this … We also participate in local events, also to promote our wines.

We also sell our wines in the island of Tenerife, our main consumer market. A total of 90% of our wines are sold in the Canary Islands.

This finding is in stark contrast to some Western Australian wineries, whose operators had negative views about locals’ lack of support in purchasing their wine.

For other participants, being involved in community events was also a way to gain exposure, which could also lead to sales among locals:

We do participate in local events as well, either independently or in those organised by the regulatory council … this seems to work very well. We also participate in local activities that include wine shows; we often do this jointly with local organisations. Sometimes we also go to events outside Tenerife joining the local general council of agriculture of the autonomous government (Tenerife).

However, some respondents were not enthusiastic about joining local communal festivities: “We do not participate in anything. We know each other pretty much, and sometimes we sell our wines to the locals.” Another participant stated that “We do not participate in local events; if we need to donate wine, we do, but this is rather symbolic.”

At the other end, one grower refused to participate in local events because of the way the local council was spending the available funds:

We do not participate in wine festivals but we do participate in wine quality contests. However, this year we have decided not to participate in the Canary Island wine quality contest. Why not? We are fighting against the political establishment, and this is a sector where economic aid is very scarce for us producers … However, the money that is moved by some local administrators is sometimes important, though this does not reach us. This money does not reach the local wine growers, but is shared among a lot of administration officials, who say they represent wineries but ironically had never worked with grapes before.

Only two respondents (8.7%) acknowledged making donations for local festivities. However, the comment of a third participant suggests that being involved in the community in the form of making donations can be an unending process:

we also try to collaborate in municipal acts/events. There is however an issue with participating in local events: when we participate sometimes there is a perception that wine should be given for free. If you give something for free then perceived value is lost in the process. We try to provide added value in the product.

Thus, as some Western Australian winery operators suggest in their comments, the image of wineries as farm produce rather than as producers of a luxury item, and the ready availability of wine, either locally in the form of events or physical proximity of the winery may lead to misunderstandings among some of the locals who view wine with very different eyes as do winery operators.

However, the same respondent also mentioned very rewarding experiences linking businesses and the local community:

The other day, a person from an organisation of physically challenged people called me and asked for help. This time, and it really positively impressed me, help was not being requested in money terms, but rather in any way we could help. We told this person that we would help after the harvest, hosting these individuals and having the oenologist teach them about wine tasting, wine varieties, and I will also teach them about the history of Canary wine, about the sector, about restructuring, etc. We also have group visits from schools and we try to have children positively engaged in wine culture, including emphasising the importance of drinking with moderation.

Educational activities were also ways to establish links with the local community:

Yes, we are [involved in the community], for example in the form of having [local] oenology students doing practical work in our premises.

Yes, we are actively involved. We for example hire youngsters from escuelas-talleres (handicraft/professional schools) to work at the winery and all of us working here are from the area.

Finally, some operators emphasised the need to develop further links among business:

We participate in as many local activities (promotional activities) as we can, including ‘Rural Tenerife’ that aims to promote rural tourism in the island. In order to become stronger, it is very important that we are united with as many local wineries as possible.

These efforts, both in the case of Canary Island and Western Australian wineries, could eventually lead to educating locals about wineries’ involvement in community initiatives, development, and support. At the same time, wineries’ efforts may progressively dispel misconceptions among some locals and emphasise their role of not only being growers of a local product, grapes, but also of a very valuable product that locals should not take for granted.

The Importance of Tourism

As in the case of Western Australian winery operators, tourism is also providing marketing outlets for a number of Canary Island wineries. Further, in view of the millions of tourists visiting the archipelago every year, 9.3 million in 2007 alone, who mainly came from the United Kingdom (3.5 million), Germany (2.6 million), Ireland (473,182) and the Netherlands (411,646) (Canary Institute of Statistics, 2008), such event is rather unsurprising. However, the fact that the bulk of outside tourists travel to the islands on a low budget (McLane, 2000) has meant that the local wine industry has yet to fully benefit from such influx to the islands. Despite such difficulties, there are clear signs that wineries are focusing their efforts on exploiting commercial opportunities via tourism. For one operator, the past (history, tradition) and present (Designation of Origin, quality, recognition) of the local wine industry were tied to tourism:

We have a strong relationship with tourism in the island; ever since we used to export our wines to the UK long time ago …We have cellar door sales at the winery and on weekends we also have a stand in the local municipal market.

Strengthening links and networks with existing pockets of foreign residents, as well as foreign visitors and those from other parts of Spain who have become regular visitors to the archipelago was also a strategy some wineries were following: “We do have relations with [foreign] tourists who live in the island and come to us to buy wine. These are good relationships …” Such scenario does not appear to be isolated, and might represent a niche market to some wineries, as the following comment illustrates:

We currently have numerous foreign residents who come and buy our wines. These individuals are loyal, as much or even more than local customers. They find out about our wines, taste them, and although now we are more visible, before we were not and we were famous for our wines being difficult to find. This was actually a good argument for sales because it was a difficult wine to find; this is still the case despite having more distribution outlets. We have about 10 foreign loyal customers who come to purchase wines three or four times per year. This number continues to increase as those customers spread the word. We also have foreign residents who shift residence every six months, and when they return to their country of origin they take our wines with them.

Other wineries were looking to become more involved with tourism in other ways:

…we are part of Spain's wine routes …

We plan to become involved in the form of selling food (restaurant); however, we are still in the planning process. We have just been accepted in the newly created wine trail two months ago.

We are trying to become part of the newly formed wine trail.

Conclusion: Limitations, Implications and Future Research

The involvement of rural businesses with their local communities has a number of implications for both parties, including potential benefits. While this relationship is critical for the understanding of the dynamics between rural business and the community, so far it has received little attention from academic research. The present study explored this dimension from two groups of small wineries in geographically distant locations and from winegrowers’ perspective. Clearly, the low number of responses limits the potential for making generalisations about small wineries vis-à-vis their relationship with their community. However, despite this limitation, the findings provide several areas of interest in the relationship between small wineries and rural communities. For example, as demonstrated in respondents’ comments, the provision of employment is an aspect where the role of wineries is fundamental.

In addition, most wineries actively participate in various community related activities, such as local events, as well as in making educational opportunities available. The educational element could be of great value for younger generations and students, because the opportunity for youngsters to work in vineyards and learn about wines not only could lead to the start of a new career, but also to support existing efforts to preserve a local tradition, and in some case an emerging local wine industry. In other cases, providing educational opportunities for locals and outsiders may also help wineries to connect with the community and society in general, thereby introducing the wine product to future consumers.

From operators’ comments it was noticed that the two groups selected in this study relate to their communities in very similar ways of involvement. Canary Islands’ wineries were involved in supporting local events and educational activities, and Western Australian wineries were clearly more involved in fundraising, and sponsoring local associations, including school sport clubs. Despite the small size of the participating wineries, in both regions respondents indicated a similar involvement in providing employment for locals. However, one fundamental difference between both regions was that while some Western Australian wineries did not find local support in purchasing their wines, Canary Islands’ winery operators sold most of their wines in the archipelago.

The findings also demonstrate that some operators in both geographic locations were sceptic to participate in events. For example, some respondents commented that events are a waste of money with little benefit for wineries, while others saw their ‘benevolent’ role and good intentions sometimes tested in the form of making wine available free of cost.

This study also emphasised the importance of small local winery businesses in developing, reviving or maintaining traditions and community prosperity. With the currently growing phenomenon of wine tourism in wine regions, creating links and relationships with the local community becomes more critical, particularly in terms of future cooperation between these two bodies. In addition, the study also highlighted the extent to which wine producers rely on tourists, a situation that obeys to different reasons. For example, in many cases tourists, as opposed to locals represent the larger market. For wineries, tourists may also be easier to deal with than locals, and visitors may not see themselves as part of the informal economy, a dimension that is actually beneficial to winery operators. Moreover, the nature of the exchange relationship between wineries and tourists is therefore more economic than social in nature, as operators simply engage in a relationship that is more focused on product-service provision, as well as educational and business orientated.

Several implications can be drawn for small wineries and communities. For example, wineries should continue to fulfil their positive role within their community, not only in terms of providing work, but also as entities preserving the landscape and local (wine) traditions. Wine production, enrichment of the local wine culture, as well as a wide array of supporting and educational events are and should continue to be part of wineries’ role in connecting with the local community. At the other end, while wineries can be very beneficial to rural communities, it is also important that a reciprocal relationship is established and nurtured, whereby wineries are seen as a benefactor, but also as a business facing many challenges as well as potential commercial opportunities. Regarding respondents’ comments, communities should therefore not see wineries primarily as a source of free wine and other forms of goodwill, but instead they should consistently support wineries and in the process contribute to preserving the fabric that can facilitate a symbiotic relationship.

The limited volume of research conducted on the winery–community dimension, added to the findings of this study suggests several areas for future research. First, studies could be conducted among a larger number of businesses to learn whether similar or even additional patterns emerge other than the ones identified in this study. Such knowledge would benefit the wine industry and small rural businesses, particularly in increasing awareness of the quality of winery–community, or business–community relationship, as well as in the value of preserving the social fabric of local cultures, including that of wine. Second, studies could also further explore the tourism dimension within the context of small rural communities, for instance, investigating the extent to which tourism not only might benefit small wineries, but also the local community. Finally, future research could also examine the winery–community dimension from local communities’ perspective, including members of local communities in wine regions studying benefits and challenges of such relationship. Knowledge in this area would help to a greater understanding between local communities and wineries about their role and the importance in developing a symbiotic relationship. Such relationships could benefit both parties in the form of learning from each other, contributing to development, and working together towards the continuous preservation of existing cultures, industries (not only wine) and traditions.