Terroir refers to a globally circulating set of ideas about how each wine region or sub-region produces wines that are thought to be unique to that place. While the active involvement of grape-growing farmers in terroir construction has been recognised in the academic literature to some extent, there remains a gap in understanding how farmers address ever-changing situations and uncertainties as they engage in terroir creation.
Drawing on extensive fieldwork in the Shangri-La wine region of China’s southwestern Yunnan province, this article examines how processes of constructing terroir unfold through the flexible and adaptive body techniques of the region’s grape farmers. It argues that these farmers’ embodied practices have been crucial in navigating the constant challenges they face, both from rapidly evolving socio-economic relations in the midst of China’s agricultural modernisation, and from a natural environment that is often unconducive to successful winemaking. In the processes of negotiating these never-ending changes and uncertainties, the farmers’ distinctive body techniques play a key role in the ongoing creation of Shangri-La’s singular terroir.
The Shangri-La wine region: Context and background
The Shangri-La wine region is primarily situated in Deqin County, nestled in the Hengduan Mountains at the eastern end of the Himalayas. Intersected by the Lancang River (the upper stream of the Mekong) and the Jinsha River (the upper reaches of the Yangtze), this high-altitude area (1800-2800 m) is characterized by a scattered and fragmented terrain, with numerous small vine-growing plots dispersed across the steep slopes.
The region’s winemaking tradition has its origins in the early 20th century, when French and Swiss Catholic missionaries established a church in Cizhong village and began cultivating grapes and producing wine for religious purposes. However, this activity ceased in 1951 when the missionaries were expelled from China. The vineyards experienced a revival from the 1990s onwards, as part of a broader “hidden agricultural revolution” in China that saw a transition from traditional grain crops towards higher-value commercial horticulture.
This shift was driven in part by the Chinese government’s broader agricultural modernisation agenda, which encouraged the establishment of “dragon head” agribusiness enterprises to collaborate with farmers. One such enterprise, the Shangri-La Wine Company, played a pivotal role in incentivizing local farmers to transition from growing grains to cultivating wine grapes. A decade later, in 2012, the prestigious French conglomerate Moët-Hennessy also recognised the region’s terroir potential, further driving the expansion of vineyards and wineries.
Terroir construction and the flexibility of farmers’ body techniques
In the Shangri-La region, terroir is often presented as deriving from the area’s scattered, fragmented vineyard plots, akin to the small-scale “climats” that are so integral to Burgundy’s reputation. Wine enterprises and their international winemakers emphasize the unique flavour profiles, textures, colours, and aromas that this challenging terrain is believed to impart.
However, an essential element often overlooked in academic studies of winemaking and wine regions is the role of the grape farmers themselves – the peasant cultivators who tend the small vineyard plots. It is their embodied practices and flexible, adaptive techniques that have been crucial to the ongoing construction of Shangri-La’s terroir, as they navigate the constant changes and uncertainties they face.
The concept of “body technique” refers to the culturally-learned, durable ways in which people use their bodies. As the Shangri-La farmers have engaged with the transition from grain cultivation to grape growing, they have had to continually adjust and recalibrate their embodied practices. This has entailed everything from developing new pruning methods, to learning how to walk and work efficiently on the steep slopes, to refining their sensory judgments about optimal grape ripeness.
Navigating the challenges has involved a dynamic interplay between the farmers’ inherited skills and knowledges, and ongoing processes of experimentation, improvisation, and the creative incorporation of new techniques introduced by the wine enterprises. The farmers’ body techniques are not rigidly predetermined, but rather flexible, adaptive, and reflective – enabling them to constantly “disengage, engage, and then disengage again” with emerging situations and environmental conditions.
Translating terroir knowledge and practices
A key aspect of the farmers’ flexible body techniques involves the translation and hybridization of global terroir knowledge and practices. Wine enterprise specialists, armed with internationally-recognized viticultural expertise, collaborate closely with the farmers, relying on their embodied know-how to navigate the region’s challenging terrain and climate.
This translation process encompasses multiple levels. First, the winemaking specialists impart global viticulture principles, such as optimal grape varietals, pruning methods, and yield targets. The farmers then adapt these techniques through their accumulated local knowledge and sensory judgments honed over decades of working the land.
Secondly, “terroir translators” – skilled farmers as well as young locals trained in winemaking – play a crucial bridging role, interpreting between the specialized technical language of the enterprise experts and the Tibetan vernacular of the farming community. They mobilize diverse body techniques, from carpentry skills to nuanced understandings of the land, to facilitate the co-construction of terroir.
At the grassroots level, individual farmers continually experiment and improvise, drawing on their intimate, embodied relationships with the vines, soils, and environment. They make constant adjustments – for example, replacing unsuitable walnut trees, or developing novel pruning techniques – to align global terroir ideals with the realities of the local terrain.
Flexible adaptation and the creation of value
The flexibility and adaptability of the farmers’ body techniques have been crucial not only in the construction of Shangri-La’s terroir, but also in their attempts to capture commercial value from it. Some farmers, dissatisfied with the power dynamics inherent in their relationships with the large wine enterprises, have sought to “reverse engineer” terroir by drawing on their own embodied practices.
These farmers leverage their intimate, experiential knowledge of the land to craft “traditional” or “handmade” wines, emphasizing elements like Buddhist-inspired organic cultivation, high-altitude conditions, and historical winemaking lineages. In doing so, they strategically mobilize their body techniques to create value-added products that can compete with the wines of the large enterprises on the basis of terroir uniqueness.
Ultimately, the farmers’ flexible, adaptive body techniques are central to the ongoing, dynamic construction of Shangri-La’s terroir. While the region’s wines may be presented to global and domestic consumers as expressing a singular, place-based essence, this article reveals the intricate, ever-evolving processes through which the farmers’ embodied practices play a pivotal role in shaping and re-shaping this terroir over time. Their skills, sensibilities, and improvisational capacities are essential to the production of wines that can command ever-higher prices by virtue of their perceived terroir distinctiveness.
The Wine Garden Inn is proud to feature wines that exemplify the unique terroir of the Shangri-La region, crafted through the dedicated efforts of its grape-growing community. From the meticulous pruning techniques to the sensory judgments involved in grape selection, the region’s winemakers draw on a rich tapestry of embodied knowledge and flexible practices to ensure that each vintage captures the singular essence of this remarkable terroir.