The Cutting Edge of Wine and Hospitality Research

The American Association of Wine Economists has just published the latest issue of the Journal of Wine Economics, and it has a special focus: reporting the results of a workshop held by the Alliance for Research on Wine and Hospitality in late 2022. 

The editors of the special issue note that “the articles selected . . . illustrate the intricacy of the wine industry.” This includes “exploring the intersections of producers, retailers, managers, and consumers within the wine sector.” The researchers employed “a wide range of quantitative research methods using detailed data from the industry as well as from experiments.” The articles explore a number of different topics, including restaurant wine lists, consumer wine ratings, predicting fine wine prices, and gender bias in wine purchasing by consumers. 

The special issue articles, therefore, offer a detailed examination of various aspects of the wine industry, shedding light on its multifaceted nature, which will be of great interest to those involved in the on-trade and sommeliers as well as wine producers and distributors.

Here is a summary of the key findings and conclusions from each article: 

Restaurant Wine Lists: The first paper investigates the decision-making process of restaurant owners in Switzerland regarding sharing their wine lists. It highlights the delicate balance between restaurant competition and attracting wine enthusiasts. Cultural factors play a significant role in this decision, showing the complexities faced by restaurateurs and wine directors. The authors note: “Even if a food menu is almost always accessible, the wine list, which is also essential information, is often unavailable and/or not easily accessible to potential customers.”  

Why is this? The authors hypothesize that  “wine lists may, specifically in high-end restaurants, contain strategic information that should remain secret and not be unveiled to competitors who could take advantage of it to improve their wine offer.” The authors note the substantial work of “highly skilled sommeliers” in creating wine lists with offering that are not only finely tuned to attract customers but in many cases includes exclusive wines. “Keeping a wine list secret is a way to prevent close competitors from getting inspiration to source wines discovered by others,” they write.  

The article notes price inflation over the last decade, especially for “certain rare wines, particularly Burgundies, which are frequently on the menus of high-end restaurants in Switzerland” through “allocations at prices well below their market counterparts.” This, in turn, relies on the important relationship that develops between the on-trade and specific wine producers or distributors. Offering “rare wines at lower prices” helps restaurants “build a loyal clientele of wine lovers.” 

Read the full article on the cutting edge of wine and hospitality research on USA Wine Ratings.