Opinion | The importance of 'somewhereness' in the winemaking world

Anyone reading the newspaper of late can be left in no doubt that the question of who holds power is on everyone's mind. In the realm of politics, it is hard for us to come to an agreement, but the little world of wine tends to favour a more decentralised power system.

As wine consumers, we like wine that tells us about where it comes from: a wine with "somewhereness", a term borrowed from politics.

"Südtirol" or "Alto Adige," depending on whether your ancestors were the original German speaking inhabitants or the more recent Italian speaking immigrants to Italy's northernmost region, is one place that has made decentralised power work.

As a semi-autonomous state of Italy, it's in the plum position of having a high percentage of its regional taxes pumped back into the region. Whether or not you support this, the number of agricultural regions that can claim to have kept 96 per cent of farmers on their farms over the past 30 years can almost be counted on two thumbs.

Add to this that most of their farming involves manual labour on perilously steep inclines and you see what an achievement this is.

Fortunately, Alto Adige/Südtirol is currently less concerned with in-fighting, and more interested in communicating its somewhereness in a globalised economy.