Today's wine industry is characterized by regional differences not only
in the wines themselves but also in the business models by which these
wines are produced, marketed, and distributed. In Old World countries
such as France, Spain, and Italy, small family vineyards and cooperative
wineries abound. In New World regions like the United States and
Australia, the industry is dominated by a handful of very large
producers. This is the first book to trace the economic and historical
forces that gave rise to very distinctive regional approaches to
creating wine.James Simpson shows how the wine industry was transformed
in the decades leading up to the First World War. Population growth,
rising wages, and the railways all contributed to soaring European
consumption even as many vineyards were decimated by the vine disease
phylloxera. At the same time, new technologies led to a major shift in
production away from Europe's traditional winemaking regions. Small
family producers in Europe
developed institutions such as regional appellations and cooperatives to
protect their commercial interests as large integrated companies built
new markets in America and elsewhere. Simpson examines how Old and New
World producers employed diverging strategies to adapt to the changing
global wine industry.Creating Wine includes chapters on Europe's cheap
commodity wine industry; the markets for sherry, port, claret, and
champagne; and the new wine industries in California, Australia, and
Argentina.
