Invention and Representation as Cultural Capital

The paramount reputation of Bordeaux wines is believed to follow from superior techniques of vinification and a climate and soil reputedly ideal for winegrowing. Through a qualification of the invention of tradition theme, this essay argues that Bordeaux's paramount reputation follows from a social history and a hegemonic, invented winegrowing tradition that enabled winegrowing elites to replicate and profit from the cultural capital associated with the aristocracy. The essay concludes that commodity production tends to naturalize the social.