Cultural Atlas of California Wine
David Michalski
University Library
University of California, Davis
[email protected]
The Cultural Atlas of California Wine uses a relational database, maps and GIS to show the historic and contemporary distribution of wineries and vineyards across California. By linking wine production data to digitized consumer literature it provides researchers with the ability to locate and track the distribution of grape varietals, wine styles, wine price points, winery architecture themes, wine reviews and other cultural markers for wine, contributing to a better understanding of this important commodity and the cultural geography of wine.
In places like France, Italy, and Spain, the cultural styles of wine have been mapped to locations over centuries. In the early twentieth century some of these customs were codified into appellation laws. In California, wine customs have had less time to take shape, in fact, without the same sort of regulations based on appellation, wine’s relation to place in California is still evolving. This doesn’t mean, however, that the wine industry in California is not shaped by geographic forces. Nor does it mean that wine does not contribute to the distinction of regions and locality in California. It only means the forces influencing the geography of wine, and the dynamic through which consumer culture produces space and place are harder to discern.
The Cultural Atlas of California Wine illustrates the vibrant and historically contingent relations between wine styles and geography in California. It brings together different data and narrative streams from the various facets of wine culture, including agricultural and economic data, wine trade and consumer literature (both advertising and reviews) and contemporary studies, fieldwork and surveys. In integrating these sources, information currently separated or trapped in books, periodicals and pamphlets, is displayed in rich layered setting, one that will help wine scholars and the wine industry better visualize the production of wine and the wine industry across time, while providing humanities scholars and social scientists with a tool to examine how commodity production and consumption influences cultural landscapes.
Please send inquiries on how to get involved with this project, as well as questions about it to:
David Michalski
Social and Cultural Studies Librarian
University of California, Davis
[email protected]
http://people.lib.ucdavis.edu/~davidm/
