Global Processes - Red Wine - Essay Example

Running head: Research Proposal - 'RED WINE' Research Proposal - 'RED WINE' Introduction Wine has a history that s back to 6500 years ago and is consumed by people all over the world. In some countries wine is a principal source of revenue through exports. Red wine is a special variety of wine extracted from the skin of grapes and is red in color. It is particularly famous for its taste and health benefits. Red wine is important in the context of geographical discussion because it is a saleable commodity produced only in few countries and having some specific countries as significant customer base. There are different varieties of red wine based on the place of origin and the pattern of consumption of it in different places requires the understanding of the influence by the geographical aspects. Question The question that needs to be answered with regard to red wine is "What is the significance of the consumption pattern of different varieties red wine all over the world " The different geographical concepts like scale, globalization, landscape, etc can be applied on this topic to get a clear picture of the consumption pattern. Rationale Red Wine is said to symbolize class, culture, maturity and refinement. It has a special significance that the different varieties of red wine are related to the place of origin although they don't exactly have the name of the city or town. It is a fact that there is no uniformity in the consumption of red wine. Researching the above question helps to find out the extent of globalization of a given variety of red wine. It also shows the trade relations between countries and how information flows between people during transport of these products. Cultural influences by countries also occur during communication and commuting. The importance with red wine lies in today's world the fact that the consumption level is growing worldwide due to its health benefits and this earns high revenues for the Government through trade (Euro Monitor, 2007). Geographical concepts Red wine is produced in different stages and is available in market after packaging and transport. The different geographical concepts can be discussed in this regard. Spatial interaction: The red wine production and sale in different countries creates interaction in spatial context among people. Production of wine starts from the plantation of vine yards containing grapes. The grapes are cultivated with the variety required being selected and then grown in the particular season. The grapes hence produced are moved to the place where they are fermented for a period of time. From here, the wine is moved for further processing to lessen the acidity content and increase the taste. Finally the bottling and packaging of red wine in different forms is done and is ready for sale. The product is transported to different places by people of different places and culture thereby promoting a flow of information between them Scale of activity: The consumption of red wine is not dependent locally and is based on the availability of farm products, the presence of good season, availability of labor required in fermenting, packaging and transport of products. Space, place and landscape: The more the revenue earned through production and sales of red wine, the more will be the change in demography and landscape of the place of production. Increase in housing and more vine yards will be formed as a result. Terroir refers to the combination of natural factors associated with any particular vineyard. These factors include such things as soil, underlying rock, altitude, slope of hill or terrain, orientation toward the sun, and microclimate (typical rain, winds, humidity, temperature variations, etc.). Also, no two vineyards have the exact same terroir. Vineyards are often on hillsides and on soil of marginal value to other plants. A common saying is that "the worse the soil, the better the wine." Planting on hillsides, especially those facing south, is most often in an attempt to maximize the amount of sunlight that falls on the vineyard. For this reason some of the best wines come from vineyards planted on quite steep hills Bibliography: Wine(2008) retrieved Mar 5th 2008 from Human Geography: Places and Regions in a Global Context retrieved Mar 5th 2008 Overview of red wine(2007) retrieved Mar 5th 2008 from Wine and Health benefits(2008) retrieved Mar 5th 2008 from Basic geographic concepts (2007) retrieved Mar 5th 2008 from Vineyard and vintage view (2000) retrieved Mar 5th 2008 from Indian wine academy (2003) retrieved Mar 5th 2008 from Red wine production (2007) retrieved Mar 5th 2008 from South African Wine (2008) retrieved Mar 5th 2008 from EuroMonitor International retrieved Mar 5th 2008 from Research Project Introduction Wine production is a process that started about 6500 years ago and it indeed was a process that varied geographically. It is said that the Mesopotamians in and around 6000 B.C were enjoying wine. There was a practice for the Egyptians to bury the dead with wine for them to enjoy their after life. In the ancient days, Red Wine was a product that had to be preserved and enjoyed over time but gradually, wine was available even for common people. Red wine is different from other wines because it is prepared from the fermentation of unmodified grape juice. The grapes are fermented without the addition of sugar, acids and enzymes. It is gaining importance throughout the world because it not only remains as a cuisine and flavor agent but also has been proved to have more health benefits like reducing blood cholesterol, minimizing risk of heart attacks. Red wine is also considered to have religious uses for the Christians and Jews. Until the Islamic revolution in 1979, there was a thriving red wine usage in some muslim countries. The question for research, "What is the significance of the consumption pattern of different varieties red wine all over the world" is significant at present because the production and consumption levels are on the rise in many countries and it also plays a big role in earning revenues through exports. Several geographical aspects influence the production and consumption and the effect is evident from Bronze Age. Globalization While Globalization can be defined as the tendency of businesses, technologies, or philosophies to spread throughout the world or the process of making this happen, the concept applies to the consumption of red wine because it originated in one place and is now occurring throughout the world. Red wine has historical evidences of globalization and the production methods were passes on from one country to the other. There are variations in the quality now because of the geographical conditions of each place. In Egypt, wine became a part of recorded history, playing an important role in ancient ceremonial life. Wine was possibly introduced into Egypt by the Ancient Greeks. Traces of wine were also found in China, dating from the second and first millennium BC. In medieval Europe, the Roman Catholic Church was a staunch supporter of wine which was necessary for the celebration of Mass. In places such as Germany, beer was banned and considered pagan and barbaric while wine consumption was viewed as civilized and a sign of conversion. Wine was also forbidden in the Islamic civilization, but after Geber and other Muslim chemists pioneered the distillation of wine, it was used for other purposes, including cosmetic and medical uses. In fact the 10th century Persian philosopher and scientist Al Biruni described recipes where herbs, minerals and even gemstones are mixed with wine for medicinal purposes. Since Roman times, wine which is potentially mixed with herbs and minerals was assumed to serve medicinal purposes as well. During this time it was not uncommon to dissolve pearls in wine for better health. History has evidence showing Cleopatra drinking a cup of wine having an expensive pearl. At present, the red wine has attained good extent in globalization through Government support, reduced cost and promotional advertisements adding more brand value. Overall factors affecting consumption While there are numerous factors affecting the consumption level of red wine in a country, the foremost is the local factor i.e., availability in market. Not all countries produce red wine and some have to depend on other countries through imports to meet the people's requirements. In some countries there may be abundant production of red wine and hence a direct increase in the consumption level can be seen. The availability depends on the supply from remote places which in turn depends on local conditions like changes in weather, cost incurred in pre and post-production stages, changes in terrain, etc. The next important local factor is the acceptance shown by the public towards drinking wine. In some countries it is traditional and customary to drink wine but in others, it is considered as an act that damages the cultural heritage. The acceptance in turn may depend on a chain of factors like promotional ads, approval by quality control agencies, etc. Apart from these, the other factors like cost of the products, season, transportation, and laws of country also affect the pattern of consumption of red wine. Use of Geographical concepts The geographical concepts help in the analysis of the theme. Globalization of red wine has increased the consumption level all over the world. The local and global processes are very much inter-related that a small change in any of these processes could trigger big deviations from normality. There is spatial interaction in these processes wherein flow of goods and information takes place between people of different countries. There will be changes in landscape if people are attracted to the revenues earned through red wine selling. The dependence of humans on nature is so much that a small change like increased rainfall or decreased humidity will reduce the volume of grape produced and hence a fall in red wine consumption level. Interaction of local and global processes The availability of product in local market which is a local factor is dependent on many global factors. The availability is directly related to the production level in remote places. This production level is indeed dependent on many geographical aspects. A change in terrain is possible through heavy or no rainfall. An increase in the felling of trees could decrease humidity in the place. Change in the direction of wind could change the quality of the grapes produced. The increase in the cost of raw materials like farm products, barrels used for storage, etc could decrease the volume of wine produced. The transportation of wine from place of production to place of consumption includes vehicles that depend on fuel. Hence, increase in fuel prices could change the amount of wine available in the place of consumption. There is also direct and indirect labor involved in the transportation to the markets and hence labor charges also determine the final price of the product. In some countries, stringent laws on exports and imports are issued regarding the quality and quantity of products and all these determine the volume of product available to the people for consumption. The acceptance shown by public towards drinking wine is dependent on the health and risk analysis. About three decades ago, consuming red wine was thought to have more risks because of its alcohol content and acidity levels. In some places, drinking wine is in contrary to the religious customs and was assumed to degrade the sanctity of the place. But the situation changed after scientific investigations on red wine consumption. In USA, a boom in red wine consumption was initiated in the 1990s by '60 Minutes', and other news reports on the French paradox. The French paradox refers to the lower incidence of coronary heart disease in France than in the USA despite high levels of saturated fat in the traditional French diet. Epidemiologists suspect that this difference is attributed to the high consumption of wines by the French. Population studies have observed a J curve association between wine consumption and the risk of heart disease. This means that abstainers and heavy drinkers have an elevated risk, whilst moderate drinkers have a lower risk. The acceptance is also dependent on checks and certifications made by the quality control boards of each country and through international standards agencies. When the products get quality checks, they are more accepted by the general public and go by the nutritional facts presented along with the product. There are other reasons influencing the consumption pattern. Season is one such aspect where people tend to drink more in summer and scientific data suggests that people towards the poles drink more than those near the equator. For example, North Americans and Australians drink more than Indians and Chinese. The pricing of the product also affects the consumption. Wines that have been produced will be cheap and more will be consumed by local people whereas imported wines cost more because of transportation and custom charges and hence fewer amounts will be consumed. Case study There was a real time case where the chain of factors affecting the consumption level of red wine was realized globally because of a local factor. Italy is the second biggest country in wine production, with almost 5,056,648 tons of wine produced annually next only to France. In wine exports, it ranks top with the total annual export at 15,100 hectoliters. It has a global export market share of 20% and earns very high revenues through this. On 23rd November 1980, a huge earthquake struck in Italy and the damage was estimated to be US $ 20,000,000,000. The damage was so big that it took considerable time for the country to resume its production and trading. With decrease in the availability of product in the market, the demand for red wine soared and hence the product cost increased all over the world. The cost involved in packaging and transportation was also increased. So, the consumption level went down owing to increased cost in areas which do not produce wine but not in the countries like Spain, Australia and France which are traditional suppliers of wine. This was also the time when people started to realize the health benefits of red wine. Many promotional ads were displayed showing people of the importance of red wine in reducing blood cholesterol and reducing risks of heart attack. Red wines from South of France (Bordeaux, Cotes du Rhone and Bourgogne) and Sardinia Italy have been found to have the highest levels of procyanidins - the compounds in grape seeds responsible for making red wine good for the heart. Countries like France and Spain had to produce more and this caused increase in the farm products required to grow grapes. The price incurred in bottling also increased and cheaper methods of packaging were used for some period of time. In this example, the earthquake in Italy is a local event and it triggers a series of events not only in countries producing wine but also in those in which it is consumed. The above case study shows the importance of how local and global events interact in determining the consumption level of red wine across the world. Conclusion Red wine is gaining importance throughout the world because of its taste and benefits. The analysis in finding out the consumption pattern of red wine across different populations is made possible through geographical concepts. Globalization is found to have started with red wine long back and is continuing to increase. Historical evidences suggest this aspect and trading between nations with help from Government promotes globalization. The overall factors involved in the consumption pattern is known and a better understanding of how the local and global processes interact in producing such pattern is made possible with the help of case study where a specific case involving earthquake in Italy is discussed. Although the study has been exhaustive, some areas like the process of wine manufacturing in different places and the economic climate of a country have to be analyzed more to get a better insight on the variations evident in red wine consumption. A deeper study of the statistical data arrived from some specific countries like per capita income, temperature changes, etc would help more in the analysis. Bibliography Wine(2008) retrieved Mar 5th 2008 from Human Geography: Places and Regions in a Global Context retrieved Mar 5th 2008 Overview of red wine(2007) retrieved Mar 5th 2008 from Wine and Health benefits(2008) retrieved Mar 5th 2008 from Basic geographic concepts (2007) retrieved Mar 5th 2008 from Vineyard and vintage view (2000) retrieved Mar 5th 2008 from Indian wine academy (2003) retrieved Mar 5th 2008 from Red wine production (2007) retrieved Mar 5th 2008 from South African Wine (2008) retrieved Mar 5th 2008 from EuroMonitor International retrieved Mar 5th 2008 from Read More