Cultivating activism throughterroir: an anthropology of sustainable winemakers in Umbria, Italy

This article focuses on the practices, narratives, and the politics of sustainable vignaioli (winegrowers and winemakers) in the Province of Perugia, Umbria, Italy. We discuss the ways in which alternative winemakers reinterpret notions of quality and terroir as a set of narratives through which they articulate their definition of sustainability, their relationship with the land and their activism. Their visions and practices of sustainability inform their idea of the role and quality of wine, which becomes more than just a commodity, but a symbol of their work, values, moral stances, and political agency. We show how a sense of terroir, or “taste of place,” is refashioned by a group of Umbrian winegrowers as a driving factor for activism through their sustainable and agro-ecological practices. Drawing on a variety of discourses on nature and their role as artisans, farmers use the notion of terroir not just for marketable or sensorial reasons, but also to create a politically active community.