This paper proposes an approach to determine efficient release prices on the Bordeaux en primeur (primary) market. The model exploits information from the secondary market to estimate efficient release prices. We apply the model to a representative sample of wines from the 2021 vintage. The results show that most chateaux released their wines at prices that were too high. The median overpricing is 5.2% but exceeds 30% for some wines. This situation may be partially attributed to excessively uniform pricing caused by the tendency of chateaux with similar status to release their wines at similar price levels.

This article documents how the COVID-19 crisis has affected the drinking behavior of Latin European wine consumers. Using a large online survey conducted during the first lockdown in France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain (n = 7,324 individuals), we reconstruct the purchasing and consumption patterns of the respondents. The number of people who maintained their wine consumption frequency is significantly higher than those who increased or decreased their consumption. Wine consumption frequency held up better than other types of alcohol (beer and spirits). We analyze heterogeneities among countries and individuals by employing the Marascuilo procedure and an ordered logit model. The latter identifies the impact of demographic, commercial, and psychosocial factors on wine consumption frequency. The results shed light on changes in wine consumer behavior during the first lockdown and consider possible post-lockdown trends that could be useful to industry players. (JEL Classifications: D5, L66, Q1)

In this paper, we use copula-GARCH models applied to daily data from March 2010 to March 2018 to test the time-varying dependence of the Liv-ex 50, a secondary market fine wine index comprised of the ten most recent vintages of the five Bordeaux First Growths, with a portfolio composed of the six main stock markets (S&P 500, CAC 40, DAX 30, FTSE 100, and Hang Seng). Our results suggest that the Liv-ex 50 underperforms the six stock indexes, but provides diversification benefits in terms of volatility, asymmetry, and extreme events. (JEL Classifications: G110, G120, Q14)

In this article, we analyze the impact of varying exchange rates on French wine exports using a dynamic Armington panel model for the time period from 2000 to 2011. Our results suggest that French wines have become less competitive during the 2000s. This is due to two factors: rising domestic wine prices relative to foreign competitors and the appreciation of the euro against the USD and the GBP. Chinese demand appears to be a key driver of French wine exports. In addition, we find some compositional effects in Bordeaux wine exports. In response to the appreciation of the euro, the share of high-priced wines has increased, suggesting some degree of quality sorting in response to exchange-rate changes. (JEL Classification: F14, F31, Q17)

This article discusses key comparative advantages of wine-producing nations and suggest prospective views on their evolution. Our methodology is twofold. First, we study comparative advantages in 16 countries using Porter's diamond. Then, we report results from a survey in which wine economists are asked to assess the future trade performance of these countries. Results are relatively consistent across methods regarding the future “heavy weights” like China, but also New Zealand and Chile, countries show the greatest potential to succeed in the future global wine trade. It is also expected that Georgia, the United Kingdom, and Australia play an important role, although to a lesser extent. Our findings indicate that comparative advantages in wine trade are neither uniform nor static; especially, terroir is no longer sufficient. The diamond approach contradicts experts from two countries in particular, France and Argentina, suggesting that experts put great emphasis on demand and market structures as key trade determinants for the future. (JEL Classifications: F14, Q17)

Crowdfunding has recently emerged as a novel way of financing new ventures. It coincides with a growing interest in wine as an investment good and with a search for new funding opportunities by wine makers. In this study, we examine potential investors willing to engage in wine crowdfunded projects and the kind of revenue that would attract them. We presented an original survey where respondents were asked about their wine consumption and purchase, their knowledge about crowdfunding, their relation to the internet, their investment and project related to wine crowdfunding, and their expectations concerning the returns from this type of contribution. Our results suggest that among all forms of crowdfunding, the donation/voluntary contribution side driven by intrinsic motivation is likely to remain marginal compared to crowdfunding as an investment or a form of early purchase. (JEL Classifications: G11, G12, G21, L17, L66)

This paper examines the strong version of the law of one price (LOOP) on the auction market for fine wine. We draw on worldwide auction prices from eight auction houses,1 covering the time period from 2000 to 2012. Employing a hedonic approach, we find significant price premiums in particular in Hong Kong and between auction companies (independent of their locations). The price premiums by far exceed the expected transaction costs, casting doubt on the existence of the strong version of LOOP in the fine wine market. Our results suggest that heterogeneity in buyer preferences may crucially contribute to the observed price dispersion. In particular, although wines suspected of being counterfeits are sold at discounts in Western markets, they fetch price premiums in Hong Kong. (JEL Classifications: Q14, G11)

In this paper we provide a simple and transparent non parametric methodology to express the scores of each wine expert on the same rating scale. We discuss the advantage of this methodology over a linear transformation. The non-paramatric method ensures the comparability of scores among experts and allows for a relevant average calculation of available wine scores. (JEL Classifications: Q13, L15, C14).

The purpose of this paper is to assess the role of expert opinion on the pricing of Bordeaux wines. To this end, we compile an original dataset including (1) retail prices, (2) scores attributed to wines from France, Spain, and the United States by nine experts from 2000 to 2010, and (3) the meteorological conditions under which the grapes were produced. With this dataset, we aim to determine the presence of bias rooted in the subjectivity of the experts. We assume that the expert wine scores have two main components: (1) an objective one that is driven by the fundamentals of wine production (the quality of soil, producers' skills, and climate conditions) and (2) a subjective one that is determined by the individual opinion of the experts. We use control function techniques to compare the respective impacts of these two factors and find that prices are influenced more deeply by the fundamental quality of the wine than they are by the judge's subjectivity. Furthermore, we notice the great impact of “highest ratings” on pricing, which we interpret as a “marketing effect”: the most favorable score is likely to be the most publicized, which influences the price of the respective wine. (JEL Classifications: C21, D89, L15)