The Territorial Organization of Variety : Cooperation and competition in Bordeaux, Napa and Chianti Classico

Within the modern global economy, the wine industry seems to be an anomaly: thousands of small companies provide a vast variety of highly differentiated products, competing successfully with multinational corporations. This book argues that this is in fact the result of a sophisticated alternative organization of production on the part of the winegrowers, who have developed a set of strategies and tools appropriate to their markets and regulatory contexts.

The wine industry appears to be an anomaly within the modern global economy. Thousands of small companies provide a vast variety of highly differentiated products and compete successfully with multinational corporations. Using case studies from Bordeaux, Napa Valley and Chianti Classico, this book argues that rather than being a vestige or a serendipitous phenomenon, this variety results from a sophisticated alternative organization of production. Integrating differentiation and branding into Ostrom''s common pool resource theory, Jerry Patchell shows how winegrowers in a territory can use self-governance to protect and promote their common reputation while enhancing each producer''s ability to differentiate their wines and build their own brand. Bordeaux, Napa, and Chianti Classico share several common challenges, but develop a set of strategies and tools appropriate to their markets and regulatory contexts.