Exploring Pinot Noir’s Perceptions of Authenticity from Production to Consumption
Camilo Pena Moreno
Avi Shankar
Because of its sensitivity to subtle variations in growing contexts, Pinot Noir is considered by many in the wine industry as the ideal grape and type of wine to represent nuances in terroir. As such, Pinot Noir could be perceived as the quintessential vessel to reflect an authentic sense of place. This identity and reputation are socially constructed and tied to the ways humans relate to the wine. Thus, this project proposes to explore how the idea of authenticity of Pinot Noir is inextricably connected to the bodies that make and consume the wine and to the interrelated, fluid, and entangled systems that coincide in transforming grapes into a mythologized drink.
This proposal will explore how the idea of authenticity of a product, epitomized in the biological and symbolic connection of Pinot Noir with its terroir, gets constructed, contested, and problematized by both consumers and creators of the wine.
From the production perspective, the project will explore the impacts of various winemaking methods to understand how Pinot Noir is influenced, in differing degrees, by entanglements of materials, humans, and non-humans. The ways in which the idea of Pinot Noir influences the winemaking process will also be explored. Some winemakers, for example, perceive Pinot Noir as the most challenging grape to work with. So, how does this perception influence their agency in the creation of an authentic wine?
From a consumption perspective, the project will explore how consumers negotiate the perception of authenticity of Pinot Noir. Informed by how winemakers create various types of Pinot Noir, how do the materiality, reputation, and mythologies of Pinot Noir permeate consumer practices including but not limited to the act of drinking the wine? And how do these practices further affect the reputation and identity of Pinot Noir?
Camilo Peña is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the School of Management, University of Bath. His research explores the social dynamics that unfold as individuals engage in markets and retailing experiences where products are complex and value is ambiguous, such as wine, fashion, and art. He is particularly interested in how consumers negotiate aesthetic, economic, and moral values in markets with high levels of social influence.
Avi Shankar is Professor of Consumer Research at the University of Bristol. His research is phenomenon based. He is currently involved in research that explores the relationship between humans and the natural world in contexts like fishing and surfing. More generally he is also interested in studying phenomena that speak to the challenges of sustainability (veganism) and EDI (gender equality).