Quality and local identity of the wine sector:
Strategic elements for a synergic development of business and territory.
Keywords: wine and territorial marketing; quality; territorial development.
Abstract:
The link between high quality wines and local identity represents a strategic factor for the development of wine businesses and, at the same time, an important way to strengthen the image of the production territory. In this framework, the paper aims at characterizing territorial capital elements, both from a theoretical point of view and with reference to the case of Oltrepò Pavese and to propose a methodology for the analysis of the link between these territorial capital factors and characteristic products, that has been applied to the 14 typologies of D.O.C. wines of Oltrepò Pavese. The analysis wants to interpret the territorial value that high quality wines represent, not just in terms of characteristic and local features, but in a more comprehensive way, i.e. in synergy with the territorial capital factors. Thus, it provides preliminary information needed for the formulation and implementation of local development policies and is also useful for the operators involved in the wine sector, as a reference point to plan strategies in order to increase the value of their products in synergy with the territory.
The paper starts from the definition of the territorial capital factors and the identification of adequate indicators to represent it. Among them there are also variables more closely linked to the wine sector. The methodologies used to carry out the study of the links between high quality wines and the territory are the analysis of specialization, Shift and Share, of classification, of segmentation and of spatial correlation. They allow to identify, in particular, homogeneous groups of territorial units in terms of territorial capital elements, to detect the attraction capacity of the territory in relation to the sector considered and to investigate on the principal attraction factors. This approach has been applied at municipality level to the case of Oltrepò Pavese, with reference to the years 1997-2006, and it allows to underline, for each of the 14 typologies of wine, the principal strategic elements for the synergic development of these products and the production area.