Burgundy, Terroir, and Globalization

Folks who have hung around here for a while might remember my problems with Jonathan Nossiter's film Mondovino. In particular I felt he did a very poor job conveying the complexity and nuances of what really is going on in a global economy. "But that's so difficult," some said, "even in a 3 hour film." Well here's a short little piece from the International Herald Tribune that does a darn sight better than Nossiter in less than about 2000 words.

Anyone pondering the mysteries of French misgivings about modernity (in general) and globalization (in particular) might wish to linger a moment in a small Burgundy vineyard that bears the name "Behind the Barn."

The author of the article goes on to talk a little bit about the owner of this vineyard, as well as one of his neighbors (who happens to be trying to sell his wines in China and in India at the moment) and the struggle between wanting to maintain a sense of place and identity, but also wanting and needing (for economic reasons) to be part of a modern global system of commerce.

It's not a stellar article, but there are so few that treat the subject with any real subtlety that it's worth checking out.

Posted by: Alder on August 28, 2005 2:39 PM: Filed under: Ramblings and Rants; Like this post? Share it! Digg it! - Add to del.icio.us - Add to Stumbleupon - Add to Reddit

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Comments (4)

James wrote:

08.30.05 at 6:39 AM

Not sure if you were aware or not, but Nossiter intends to release a ten-part documentary based on all the footage he couldn't use in his film. Hopefully, it will be a more coherent and solid presentation of his views than the film. Apparently, it was supposed to be ready for Christmas 2005, but I haven't heard anything about the progress he's making.

Alder wrote:

08.30.05 at 8:13 AM

James,

Yes, I had heard rumor of that. On PBS or something, right ? Let's hope the other 7 hours we didn't see was not filled with shots of dogs.

matt wrote:

08.30.05 at 11:05 AM

I thought some of the deleted scenes from the DVD were better than the movie

David Johnstone wrote:

08.31.05 at 2:18 PM

On the Mondovino DVD the extra footage is part 6 of the 10 part series that I found to be much more enjoyable than the film itself.