Perceptions of Wine Tourism and Territorial Sustainability in Oltrepò Pavese (Northern Italy): An Empirical Analysis

The Oltrepò Pavese is a significant wine-producing region in northern Italy. It provides an interesting case to focus on the relations between land-use policies, agricultural transformations, and sustainability. This contribution aims to analyse how human activity has shaped the area’s viticultural landscape, focusing on the critical processual connection between soil and land, as well as the socio-economic and environmental impacts of these changes. Through a qualitative survey, the study investigates how local communities perceive the impact of wine tourism on the economy, environment, and landscape. The analysis shows that winegrowers, residents, and visitors recognize the economic benefits of food and wine tourism on the one hand, but, on the other, they also recognize the constant difficulty of maintaining a balance between wine production and environmental protection. By integrating these results with a broader geographical perspective, the study not only contributes to debates on sustainable land management and the ‘naturalization’ of wine-growing landscapes but also advances a critical perspective on the ‘patrimonialization’ and socio-natural production of landscapes. It also highlights the persistent misalignment between the symbolic value attributed to the wine-growing landscape and the perceptions and daily practices of local actors, emphasizing the political and contested nature of discourses on heritage and sustainability. At the same time, it offers concrete policy insights that call for participatory and multi-level governance, aligned with European regulatory frameworks on heritage and sustainability.