Laesslé, Melaine

Values, Local Rivalries and Institutional Creativity in the Life of Two Swiss Wine Appellations - 2015.


79

This article analyses the local dynamics of the differentiation of two wine appellations in Switzerland. Adopting a resource perspective, it highlights the rivalries opposing local actors that seek to maintain a specific taste, their autonomy and the reputation of the appellation. Both case studies reveal the creativity of local producers that shape specific institutional arrangements and construct alliances to respond to the globalization of the sector and preserve the values they draw from wine production. The article underscores the interest of focusing on territorial processes, both at the local level and on their articulation with regional and national context, in order to understand the evolution of a sector facing a global market that puts under stress local practices, tastes and identities.