テロワール概念の再評価

イタリア・トスカーナのワイン生産現場における商業化とグローバル化を中心に

抄録

　　Currently, there is a growing interest in the concept of terroir, which evaluates regional originality around wine production. Prevailing studies on terroir, focusing on the historical developments of political institutionalization and the ‟traditional” artisanal skills of the local producers, have revealed the process by which terroir culminates in the certification system and have incorporated the producers’ practices and senses into the concept of terroir. However, given the generalization of the certification system and the current context of homogenization and industrialization which are affecting producers’ practices and senses, it must be demanded that studies on terroir today reevaluate the functions and characteristics that terroir brings from the local production site. In Tuscany, Italy, a well-known wine region all over the world, the terroir-based certification system faces small-scale producers as an economic or commercial interest involving brands and subsidies, rather than ideological acceptance and penetration of terroir. Moreover, the intervention of experts who are skilled in international chemical vinification techniques and sometimes take the tasks related to the social system instead of the producers, is leading to the standardization and the growing complexity of producers’ practices and senses on a global scale. Consequently, the concept of terroir can be interpreted not only as a concept that emphasizes the regional originality, but also as a concept that obscures the commercial aspects of production activities and the fact that local producers’ practices and senses are subject to global standardization and diversification.