How the country-of-origin impacts wine traders' mental representation about wines: A study in a world wine trade fair

Three decades of research on wine marketing

The goal of this study is to provide a comprehensive review of the academic research into wine marketing over the last three decades. Data from 1135 wine marketing-related research documents published 1990-2022 in the Web of Science and Scopus databases were employed. Using mainly co-word analysis and bibliographic coupling, the key themes of the discipline were identified. A longitudinal analysis identified the topic's evolution and current research trends. Results show that wine marketing research has grown sharply in recent years. From the pioneering studies that examined consumers' behaviours and wine price drivers, the discipline evolved to address burgeoning themes such as sustainability, social media (digital marketing) and wine tourism, which evidences the interest that academics have shown in enhancing knowledge in the area.

Sensory evaluation of Protected Designation of origin Wines: Development of olfactive descriptive profile and references

Wines covered by PDO or PGI quality labels have specific sensory characteristics. According to EU regulations, product characteristics (including the sensory description) must be defined in the PDO technical specification and should be verified for their compliance. There exist internationally harmonized quantitative descriptive sensory methods applied to products such as virgin olive oil, with well-defined attributes described in the method itself. Currently, in the case of wine, there is no harmonized international sensory descriptive method that allows comparison of results between different PDOs or laboratories. In this work, a qualitative and quantitative olfactory profile for a broad variety of wines (11 PDO and 37 wine types) and their corresponding reference standards are proposed. The sensory profile obtained can be used both to verify compliance with the technical specifications of the product and to categorize wines by type or region, thus becoming a powerful tool for the wine sector.

Decoding the Identity of Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir Wines: A Comprehensive Chemometric Fusion of Sensory (from Dual Panel) and Chemical Analysis

Quantitative relations between the sensory overall quality (OQJ) of commercial single grape variety Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir wines, defined using specific sensory attributes, and the most influencing chemical components were investigated in commercial wines from different international origins. Multiple factor analysis (MFA) was applied to achieve a comprehensive map of the quality of the samples while multivariate regression models were applied to each varietal wine to determine the sensory attributes influencing OQJ the most and to understand how the combinations of the volatile compounds influenced the olfactory sensory attributes. For Pinot Gris wine, OQJ was positively correlated with sensory attributes, like "floral" aroma, "stone-fruit" flavor, "yellow" color, "caramelized" aroma, and "tropical fruit" aroma according to an Italian panel. For Pinot Noir wine, "licorice" aroma, "cloves" aroma, "fresh wood" aroma, "red fruit" flavor, "cherry" aroma, and "spicy" flavor were positively correlated with OQJ by the same panel. Important predictors for the wine quality of Pinot Gris could be characterized, but not for Pinot Noir. Additionally, sensory tests were also carried out by different panel compositions (German and Italian). Both the German and the Italian panels preferred (based on OQJ) a Pinot Gris wine from New Zealand (Gisborne), but for different perceived characteristics (fruity and aromatic notes by the Italian panel and acidity by the German panel). For Pinot Noir, different panel compositions influenced the OQJ of the wines, as the wines from Chile (with more spicy, red fruit and woody notes) were preferred by the Italian panel, while the German panels preferred the wines from Argentina (with light, subtle woody and red fruit notes). The profile of cyclic and non-cyclic proanthocyanidins was also evaluated in the two varietal wines. No clear effect of the origin was observed, but the wines from Italy (Sicily/Puglia) were separated from the rest and were characterized by percentage ratio chemical indexes (%C-4) and (%C-5) for both varieties.

The meaning of the word elegance as a wine descriptor: Effect of expertise and wine type

The aim of the present study was to investigate the concept of elegance in wine as a function of (i) domain-specific expertise, and (ii) wine type, more specifically as applied to still wine and to sparkling wine. One hundred and fifty participants, classified into five categories depending on their wine-relevant expertise, completed an online questionnaire aimed at inducing verbal responses concerning their cerebral representations of elegance as applied to still wines and sparkling wines. The five participant categories comprised four expert groups, namely wine producer [30], wine writer/critics [30], sommeliers [30], wine merchant/seller [30], and a novice group of wine consumers [30]. Results showed that both professional and novice participants found the concept of 'elegance' applicable to both still wine and sparkling wine, evoking words and terms with reasonable consistency overall. Differences were found, both between participant groups and between wine types. After categorisation, significant differences between participant categories were found for two of the ten categories of words elicited for both inducing expressions. Extrinsic quality and intrinsic quality were significantly different across occupational categories for 'elegant in relation to wine'. Extrinsic quality was noticeably higher for consumers than the other participants while intrinsic quality appears more important to conceptualisations of wine elegance for wine writers/critics than it is for the other groups of participants. Concerning 'elegance in sparkling wine', extrinsic quality also showed significant differences across participant categories, being highly evoked by producers and merchants/sellers. The category context/analogy was significantly higher in consumers' associations and interestingly, lower in writer/critics' associations. These results support the notion that application of the term elegance as a wine descriptor is seen as appropriate by both wine professionals and wine consumers, suggesting that the term elegant when applied to either still or sparkling wine evokes a concept that is not idiosyncratic but that has a central structure shared by many wine professionals and consumers, the core of this structure including terms smooth, balanced, refined and complex.

Influence of Label Design and Country of Origin Information in Wines on Consumers' Visual, Sensory, and Emotional Responses

This study aimed to evaluate the influence of origin information on Pinot Noir wine labels using eye-tracking and its associations with purchase intent, and hedonic and subconscious emotional responses. Two studies were carried out on untrained university staff and students aged 20-60 years old. Study 1 was conducted to assess consumers' (n = 55; 55% males, and 45% females) self-reported and subconscious responses towards four design labels (with and without New Zealand origin name/script or origin logo) using eye-tracking and video analysis to evaluate emotions of participants. In study 2, participants (n = 72, 56% males, and 44% females) blind-tasted the same wine sample from different labels while recording their self-reported responses. In study 1, no significant differences were found in fixations between origin name/script and origin logo. However, participants paid more attention to the image and the brand name on the wine labels. In study 2, no significant effects on emotional responses were found with or without the origin name/script or logo. Nonetheless, a multiple factor analysis showed either negative or no associations between the baseline (wine with no label) and the samples showing the different labels, even though the taste of the wine samples was the same, which confirmed an influence of the label on the wine appreciation. Among results from studies 1 and 2, origin information affected the purchase intent and hedonic responses marginally. These findings can be used to design wine labels for e-commerce.

The Impact of "Wine Country of Origin" on the Perception of Wines by South African and French Wine Consumers: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Culture is an important factor that influences how marketing interacts with food choice. This study aims at exploring the effect of consumers' Country of Origin (COO) on wine representations and perception using Chenin blanc as a model. The first objective was to evaluate the role of origin in the construction of the representation. We used the theoretical framework of social representation to compare South African (SA) and French consumers' representations via a word association task. The results indicated that SA representations are dominated by consumers' experience of the wine (sensory and emotional dimensions), whereas French representations are dominated by the wine itself, in particular its origin and mode of consumption. The second objective was to evaluate the effect of origin on wine categorization in two conditions: with and without information concerning the two geographical origins of the samples. Results showed that providing information on the origin of the wines affected French participants more than SA participants. In both conditions, the groups of wines formed in the sorting tasks by SA participants were based on sensory descriptors and appeared not to be impacted by the information on origin. In contrast, providing information on the origin of the wines to French participants led to an increased use of the words "Loire", "South Africa" and "familiar" suggesting a different sorting strategy more deliberately based on the origin of the wines. Our findings have important implications for the marketing and export activities within the wine industry.