Labels of origin and terroir: the case of the certified wine label ‘Québec Certified Wines’ and the protected geographical indication ‘Ice wine Québec’

Abstract

Today, agriculture and agri-food are at the heart of the changes affecting contemporary economies with the tension between globalization and return to the territories. Consequently the food industry provides a good illustration of the opposition and the coexistence of two current models of development, with intensive agriculture on the one hand, and the production of quality and specificity based on the labels of origin on the other. In North America and Quebec, the interest for geographical indications is recent. Also, in recent years there has been in Quebec a growing interest in food products focusing on differentiation through quality. In 2009 the Québec Winegrowers Association (QWA) set up the certification ‘Québec Certified Wines’ to structure the wine sector. In 2013, the same association has begun a process of recognition of a protected geographical indication (PGI) for Quebec's ice wine. Thus, the aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between the development of these labels and the territory, in particular through the concept of terroir and the stakeholders’ collective action.