Building sense of place in an emerging wine region: Waipara, North Canterbury, New Zealand

Abstract

This paper examines the development of a sense of place in a newly re-organized wine region of New Zealand. It focusses particularly on the use of the term terroir in the narratives and marketing communications of wine producers, and on the role of wine within broader narratives of place aimed at domestic and international tourists. Terroir is a term which originates in France and is used frequently in the promotion of wine and food from the ‘Old World’, but its usage is also growing in ‘New World’ wine-producing regions. In this research, interviews with wine producers in North Canterbury and participant observation at cellar doors and wine and food festivals, supplemented by content analysis of promotional materials and wine labels, are used to generate qualitative data about sense of place. We find that terroir is a term familiar to wine producers, but its employment in promotional material is neither universal nor always used with the same connotations as in the Old World, revealing cultural, geographical, and commercial specificity. We also find its use correlates with business models of wine production that focus on high-value export and sales at the cellar door and through specialist distribution channels, as opposed to distribution through supermarkets, where stories of provenance and place are critical to the development of memorable wine (tourism) experiences and the wider destination image.