Much literature shows that the ratings assigned by wine judges are uncertain, some authors have proposed that judges be tested, and a few wine competitions do test judges. However, no literature or competition has yet proposed a test or rating for judges based on realistic competition conditions. This article uses coefficients of multiple correlation to rate each of 54 judges who assigned ratings to 2,811 wines entered in a commercial competition. Results show that there is a strong and positive correlation between the ratings assigned by most judges to most wines. However, those correlations also show that the ratings assigned by approximately 10% of judges are indistinguishable from random assignments. Using correlations to rate the raters, a program is underway to monitor those judges and variations in competition protocol that may affect their ratings. (JEL Classifications: A10, C00, C10, C12, D12)

Changes in winery ratings in leading wine guides, that is, improvements as well as deteriorations, are typically attributed to corresponding changes in the quality of the wines produced by the respective winery. What remains unexplored in this context is changes in editorship and/or changes in the composition of the wine tasting teams working for the respective guide. Using data from two particularly prestigious German wine guides (Gault Millau and Vinum), this paper shows that these latter changes have a rather small, yet statistically significant impact on changes in winery ratings. Thus, consumers are well-advised to consider these changes before making their purchasing decision. (JEL Classifications: L21, M30, Q13)

The objective of this article is to analyze the determinants of world wine exports in the first globalization, taking into account the principal exporting countries and using an extended version of the gravity model. The article distinguishes between ordinary- and high-quality wines. Our econometric results show that wine exports were not affected by the increase in the size of the markets of consuming countries, since in most of them wine was an alcoholic beverage consumed by a very small minority of the population. The harvests of the producing countries, particularly in preceding years, significantly and positively affected their exports. Conversely, the harvests of importers hurt exports as there was a home bias in consumption due to cultural, price, or tariff protection reasons. In the interwar period, the wine trade was severely affected by a series of shocks such as WWI, the Soviet revolution, the Prohibition, and the 1930s depression. As was the case with trade as a whole, the fall in transaction costs, favored exports, at least those of lower-priced and lower-quality wine. However, the liberalization of trade had a lesser impact on wine than on other products. (JEL Classifications: F14, N50, Q13, Q17)

While France leads the way in the Chinese import market of wine, China is France's third largest wine export market by value. In this article, I analyze the determinants of France's wine exports to China, differentiated by French wine growing regions. I estimate a simple demand using a dataset on wine shipments of 100 different types of French bottled wines to China between 1998 and 2015. I find a wide range of income and price effects across French regions—a range not unlike those found by studies spanning multiple countries. Bordeaux wines exhibit the largest Chinese income elasticity. However, other French regions appear to catch up. Price elasticity, meanwhile, is particularly low for highly reputable wines, but quite high for wines targeting middle-class customers and wines from regions traditionally known for white wines. (JEL Classifications: F10, F14, L66, Q17)

We used a survey to investigate some motives for drinking red, sparkling, and white wine among 3,433 Norwegian respondents. Respondents with interest in wine drank all types of wine more frequently than those with little interest. Interest in cultural activities, which often are associated with wine consumption, also increased the frequency of consumption of all types of wine. Respondents who scored high on conspicuous attitudes drank sparkling and white wine more frequently than respondents with low scores. However, conspicuous attitudes did not affect the frequency of red wine consumption. (JEL Classifications: D12, Q13).

Assuming horizontal differentiation and using an expanded gravity model, the main objective of this article is to assess the determinants of Portuguese wine exports. Horizontal differentiation is considered, with still and fortified wines being distinguished, as well as three distinct designations of origin: Vinho Verde, Douro, and Port wines. The results from the period between 2006 and 2016 suggest that wineries and private and public agencies should focus their commercial and policy efforts on countries with high purchasing power and/or with great potential for growth, regardless of whether the customs costs are higher. Moreover, it is concluded that horizontal differentiation influences the export determinants, suggesting there should exist different internationalization strategies for distinct types of wine. (JEL Classifications: F10, F14, L66)

This article examines whether there are different hedonic price models for different German wines by grape variety, and identifies influential factors that focus on weather variables and direct and indirect quality measures for wine prices. A log linear regression model is first applied only for Riesling, and then machine learning is used to find hedonic price models for Riesling, Silvaner, Pinot Blanc, and Pinot Noir. Machine learning exhibits slightly greater explanatory power, suggests adding additional variables, and allows for a more detailed interpretation of results. Gault&Millau points are shown to have a significant positive impact on German wine prices. The log linear approach suggests a huge effect of different quality categories on the wine prices for Riesling with the highest price premiums for Auslese and “Beerenauslese/Trockenbeerenauslese/Eiswein (Batbaice),” while the machine learning model shows, that additionally the alcohol level has a positive effect on wines in the quality categories “QbA,” “Kabinett,” and “Spätlese,” and a mostly negative one in the categories “Auslese” and “Batbaice.” Weather variables exert different affects per grape variety, but all grape varieties have problems coping with rising maximum temperatures in the winter and with rising minimum and maximum temperatures in the harvest season. (JEL Classifications: C45, L11, Q11)

Global consumption patterns for alcoholic beverages are evolving, with some convergence in per capita consumption among nations as traditionally beer-drinking nations increase their consumption of wine and, conversely, wine-consuming nations shift towards beer. This article explores regional patterns of alcoholic beverage consumption within the United States. One purpose is to see if similar patterns of spatial convergence in consumption patterns can be observed within countries as have been documented in international comparisons. A more fundamental purpose is to explore the converse question and seek to better understand the persistent differences in alcoholic beverage consumption among groups. These issues are addressed using annual U.S. national and state-level data over four decades and, for the more recent period, supermarket scanner data at finer scales of geopolitical aggregation. Socioeconomic and other demographic variables appear to play significant roles in accounting for the spatial differences in consumption patterns, although the details vary across different models and data sets. The analysis of demand using less-aggregative data for a shorter time period reveals some shortcomings in the corresponding analysis based on state-level data over a longer time period, but with poorly measured prices. These findings might extrapolate to studies making international comparisons using national aggregate data. (JEL Classifications: D12, L66)

Rates of alcohol taxation, and the types of tax instruments used, vary enormously between countries and have tended to rise in recent times. Within each country, they also vary between beverages and often between qualities and styles of each beverage. This article computes consumer tax equivalents in U.S. dollars per litre of alcohol and as percentages of wholesale prices of representative beverages for 42 high- and middle-income countries. That allows comparisons across countries of taxes not just for each product on its own, but also relative to those for other alcoholic beverages. The wide dispersion of rates and differences in tax instruments across countries and products suggest differing strengths of health and welfare lobbyists and industry groups in influencing government decision-making. (JEL Classifications: D12, D62, E62, H23, I18, P46)

American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) are descriptors of where wine grapes are grown that are designed to capture qualities unique to the wine and to influence its price. Sub-AVAs are sub-divisions of well-known AVAs designed to have the same effect. In this paper, I study the impact of the Napa Valley Sub-AVA system on the pricing and rating of Napa Valley wines. The analysis utilizes a primary hedonic pricing model to isolate both the individual Sub-AVA's price effect and the system's cumulative price effect. This study uses a unique dataset of 5,017 Napa Valley wines reviewed by the Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine over the 10-year period from 2004–2013. Estimated price effects persist even after controlling for rating differences, implying that consumers value the wines of sub-AVA's independently of critics’ ratings. These results indicate that Sub-AVAs deliver a more substantial price effect than previous literature has suggested. (JEL Classifications: C01, L10, L66, O13)

Consumers use expert ratings to help choose wine, and economists find correlations between ratings and transaction prices. Rating scales resemble hedonic scales in the behavioral sciences, which suffer from an “intersubjectivity” problem. Taste is a private sensation; people taste differently (an external validity problem), so ratings are often unreliable hedonic markers of enjoyment. But why? Hedonic measurements from food science (“general Labeled Magnitude Scales”) attempt to adjust for differences in perceived sensory sensitivity and offer clues. Resulting insights illustrate wine ratings’ shortcomings as reliable guides to enjoyment. (JEL Classifications: C14, D12, D91, L15, L66)

We identify and examine the performance of frontier investments from 2002 to 2017. Using fine wine as a setting, we find that the trade frequency and value of frontier investments in the form of Alpine wines have increased in recent years, leading to a rise in their prices above inflation rates. We further document that this frontier investment has been favorable in terms of risk-adjusted returns and volatility for investors. We also observe that the inclusion of frontier wines in a financial portfolio is favorable for investors, both in terms of returns and diversification benefits, due to low correlation coefficients. The identification and investment into frontier assets appears beneficial for investors looking for new opportunities. (JEL Classifications: C60, G11, Q11)

This article describes a new empirical model of the world's markets for alcoholic beverages and, to illustrate its usefulness, reports results from projections of those markets from 2016–2018 to 2025 under various scenarios. It not only revises and updates a model of the world's wine markets (Wittwer, Berger, and Anderson, 2003), but also adds beer and spirits so as to capture the substitutability of those beverages among consumers. The model has some of the features of an economy-wide computable general equilibrium model, with international trade linking the markets of its 44 countries and seven residual regions. It is used to simulate prospects for these markets by 2025 (business-as-usual), which points to Asia's rise. Then two alternative scenarios to 2025 are explored: one simulates the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU); the other simulates the effects of the recent imposition of additional 25% tariffs on selected beverages imported by the United States from several EU member countries. Future applications of the model are discussed in the concluding section. (JEL Classifications: C53, F11, F17, Q13)

The European grapevine moth is one of the most pertinent viticulture pests. In recent years, the moth extended to New World countries, some of which started eradication programs. We used a dataset for Mendoza and a county-fixed effects regression model to estimate the impact of the moth on grape production across the province's counties. Our results suggest that the moth led to a decrease of up to 8% of Mendoza's grape production; however, this may have been worse without strong eradication efforts. We conclude that moth eradication programs may be economically justified in Argentina, and perhaps in other countries. (JEL Classifications: Q10, Q18, C23)

I use a computational linguistic algorithm to measure the topics covered in textual descriptions of wine. I ask whether there is information in the text that consumers value. Wine is a prominent example of an experience good. There is substantial product differentiation in the market, and consumers only have limited information on the utility they will receive when consumed. Thus, information is expected to be valuable. Evaluating descriptions of wine produced across the United States, I use a hedonic price regression to explore whether the descriptions provide any new information not already available to the consumer. Initial results suggest that text descriptions are shown to lose their explanatory value when varietal and numerical ratings are included as controls. I then show that once the varietal, region, and numerical ratings are adequately controlled for, there is information in the descriptions that consumers value. (JEL Classifications: C81, D83, L15)

This paper examines the impact of exports and its main determinants on the financial performance of the Romanian wine industry. We draw on a dataset consisting of mixed firm-level (i.e., 207 companies) data, Google Trends data, and regional variables covering the period from 2009 to 2017. We show that Romanian wine exports, at the firm level, are positively affected by regional wine yields (especially in the case of red wine varieties), temperature, and firm agglomeration, and negatively impacted by firm size. We also find a close positive correlation between financial performance and exports. (JEL Classifications: F61, L66, C23)