Drifting towards bordeaux' the evolving varietal emphasis of U.S. wine regions

Julian M. Alston*, Kym Anderson, Olena Sambucci

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

In an ever-more-competitive global market, vignerons compete for the attention of consumers by trying to differentiate their product while also responding to technological advances, climate changes and evolving demand patterns. In doing so, they highlight their regional and varietal distinctiveness. This paper examines the extent to which the winegrape varietal mix varies within and among states of the United States and relative to the rest of the world, and how that picture has been evolving. It reports varietal intensity indexes for different regions, indexes of similarity of varietal mix between regions and over time, and pricebased quality indexes across regions and varieties within and among the three west-coast States. Broadly speaking, the mix of winegrape varieties in the United States is not very different from that in the rest of the world and, since 2000, it has become even less differentiated and closer to that of France and the world as a whole. But individual U.S. regions vary considerably in the mix of varieties in which they specialize and in the quality of grapes they produce of a given variety; and region-by-variety interactions have complex influences on the pattern of quality and production. We use measures of regional varietal comparative advantage and a Nerlovian partial adjustment model to account for some of the shifting varietal patterns in the U.S. vineyard and in winegrape production.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationWorld Scientific Studies in International Economics
PublisherWorld Scientific Publishing Co. Pte Ltd
Pages559-598
Number of pages40
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Publication series

NameWorld Scientific Studies in International Economics
Volume73
ISSN (Print)1793-3641

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Drifting towards bordeaux' the evolving varietal emphasis of U.S. wine regions'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this