“The Idea of Improvement”: Theorized vs. Practised Vine Growing in Friuli

At least throughout the nineteenth century, vine and wine production in Friuli aimed more at product quantity than quality following a logic detached from the market, since its wines could survive foreign competition only in qualitative terms and not in terms of price. The qualitative shortcomings of vines and wines originated primarily from the setup of the cultivation system, the poor selection of grape varieties and the outdated winemaking techniques. The difficulty in starting a specialized grapevine cultivation was precisely to convince farmers of the need to abandon the traditional promiscuous cultivation system, and substitute it with those crops most suitable to local natural features and sun exposure. Beyond rationalizing crops, it was also necessary to select plants, choosing the best quality grapevine. Throughout the nineteenth century the gap between agriculture as theorized and as practised was undoubtedly significant, although the role played by specialized publications should not be underestimated. In a context, which was more and more open to knowledge acquisition and exchange, publications worked as a catalyst for the complex development process of the regional economy, leading farmers to become more and more market-oriented entrepreneurs and vine growers to become “viticulturist”.