Competitiveness and the Market for Central and Eastern European Wines: A Cultural Good in the Global Wine Market

Abstract

The shifting locus of international wine production reflects the impact of ‘New World’ wines from the Southern hemisphere and the United States. A region which, oenologically, had an historic and traditional advantage over these new sources—the Central and Eastern European countries—has lagged behind these young competitors. This paper examines some recent history of the international wine market and this region's status in it. It suggests an unconventional interpretation of the nature of wine in the marketplace—as a cultural good—and discusses how this understanding of wine might define a market niche not yet served by current producers.