Managing the Quality Wines beyond Policies and Business Strategies

Abstract

The premise, which has always characterized legislation for Appellation of Origin (or Geographical Indications) as an indicator of quality wines is represented by the dogma of the real or imagined interaction between the vine variety, territory, and method of production and wine business and marketing strategies. This dogma determines the variability of the range of products and supports the thesis according to which the smaller the area of origin, the easier it is to determine product homogeneity and typical characteristics. Refuting this dogma means dismantling the European model behind DOs. The aim of this paper is to try to make an answer to the following questions: a) How to regulate the high quality wines located to the upper side of the quality wine pyramid and how to cover the gap of the EU wine policy? b) Introducing a business strategy like a new wine category inside the GI on the top of the quality pyramid does increase the total market size and prices of the GI? c) What will be the effect on equilibrium price and quantity within the GI? The questions could be addressed following a double approach. The first examines the quality wines follows the policy approach and describes the different level of regulation in the European scenario. The second takes as an example the history of Super Tuscan wines. The framework that supports the hypothesis and a description of the six theoretical assumptions that form part of the paper will be presented analyzing the political constraints. Here we will present the necessary theoretical background for modeling and some adaptive problems will discussions in the final part.