Bulk Wine Research Articles

Sour grapes and sweet harmony: Historicizing collective action problems in the South African wine industry

AbstractThe article addresses how merchants and wine producers interacted while oscillating between competition and collaboration in their internal relations. Spanning a period of more than a century, it addresses three chronological periods: 1900–1940, 1940–1994, and 1994 to the present. In the first, producers were able to forge a common front against the merchants in the shape of the Koöperatieve Wynbouwers Vereniging van Suid-Afrika, which was granted devolved regulatory powers over distilling wine in 1924 and then all wine in 1940. In the second, the antagonism between good and distilling producers was sublimated at a time of relative prosperity, while the merchants engaged in fierce competition. In the final phase, the regulatory system imploded while the export market re-emerged. Quality producers found common ground in appealing to terroir, whereas marginal producers supplied merchants and supermarkets with low-priced bulk wines.

Market Making and the Contested Performation of Value in the Global (Bulk) Wine Industry

Recent economic geography scholarship has emphasized (1) the performative work of market making (i.e., the geographies of marketization perspective) and (2) value-creation practices in markets (particularly the geographies of association and dissociation perspectives). In this article, we propose making stronger connections between these bodies of literature to gain a better understanding of how the performative constitution of markets and of brand and commodity value in markets are connected. More precisely, we argue that not only the b/ordering of the market and market outside (i.e., the world outside the market) but, equally, b/ordering processes within markets are essential components of performative market making and key to the contested attribution of value to commodities and brands. We flesh out this conceptual argument by empirically investigating the global wine market, which is characterized by high significance of brand building and of symbolic qualities—particularly geographic origin. In recent decades, the global wine market has been marked by a massive globalization process, strongly linked to the trading of wine in bulk form and outsourced bulk wine assembly for retailers’ private labels. Building on ethnographical research, we analyze the associative and dissociative b/ordering of the bulk wine market vis-à-vis the (premium) wine market, arguing that this performation struggle is key to the attribution of value to wine. Bearing in mind that we are witnessing an increasing aestheticization of consumer goods in the global economy, resulting in a dramatic rise in branding activities, contested b/ordering processes within markets, we argue, will grow in importance in the future.

Horizontal collaboration in the wine supply chain planning: A Chilean case study

The wine industry faces a highly competitive environment, making cost-effective management of the wine supply chain essential. Literature has shown that this objective can be achieved with the implementation of horizontal collaboration strategies in logistics. In this strategy, firms located at the same level of the supply chain cooperate to reduce costs, improve quality of service and mitigate environmental externalities. This paper analyses the implementation impacts of a horizontal collaboration policy in the wine supply chain. To do so, we propose a cooperative game with transferable costs, in which the characteristic function is obtained by solving a novel linear programming formulation that models the joint planning of the wine supply chain. To evaluate the benefits of collaboration, we conduct a case study involving three of Chile’s largest wineries. The results show that the use of collaborative frameworks leads to significant reductions in the logistics costs of the wine supply chain. Furthermore, we find that the grand coalition reduces the costs by 10.17% compared to the non-collaborative case. This reduction comes mainly from a decrease in the bulk wine inventory cost. We also analyse the impact of coordination costs on the savings and conduct a sensitivity analysis.

Sensory evaluation and prediction of bulk wine by physicochemical indicators based on PCA‐PSO‐LSSVM method

It is difficult to implement the sensory quality evaluation of bulk wine before and after transportation due to geographical, time, cost, and personnel limitation. This study aimed to use the physicochemical indicators of bulk wine to construct an evaluation model of sensory quality. First, this paper designed and carried out the simulation experiment of bulk wine transportation and obtained experimental data on physicochemical and sensory indicators of wine. Afterwards, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to reduce the dimension and fuse features of the physicochemical index. Then, the extracted features were used as the input of the evaluation model, least square support vector machine (LSSVM) was constructed for sensory evaluation, and particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm was selected to optimize LSSVM parameters. Finally, the PCA-PSO-LSSVM model was practically applied in sampled winery. The results showed that comparing models’ accuracy the PCA-PSO-LSSVM model was superior to traditional models LSSVM and PSO-LSSVM, there is significant difference between PCA-PSO-LSSVM and LSSVM, and the predictive accuracy in appearance and taste attributes was high and the overall prediction accuracy was 86.6%. The application results revealed the changes of sensory quality for bulk wine after transportation. This research provides a set of simple and feasible methods for the sensory evaluation of bulk wine. Practical applications To study the method of using the basic physicochemical index of wine to intelligently evaluate the sensory attributes of bulk wine, so as to realize the accurate evaluation of the quality of bulk wine after transportation. By comparing the comprehensive and accurate quality evaluation before and after the bulk wine transportation, it is helpful for wine companies to understand the impact of the transportation link on the wine quality, further improve the transportation method of bulk wine, and ensure the quality of the wine has important practical significance.

The business model and sustainability in the Spanish wine sector

The literature on business models and sustainability is vast but fragmented across many studies. This article seeks to unify the diverse contributions, proposing a sustainable business model archetype. With a sample of 411 Spanish wineries and using the Mann-Whitney U test, we have detected a difference between wineries in terms of their sustainability, identifying two business models, one of high sustainability and another of low sustainability. The high sustainability business model is based on the ownership of a vineyard, the production of bottled wine, sales in retail stores, supermarkets or through intermediaries, a better online position than the competition, a positioning in the premium segment and exports. The business model of a less sustainable winery is based on the sale of bulk wine in the low-price segment and an unawareness of where the wine is sold.

The effects of low-input training systems on viticultural costs on flat terrain and steep slope sites

Low-input training systems, such as minimal pruning (MP) and the semi-minimal pruned hedge (SMPH), require less working hours as a result of fewer viticultural process steps and permit a higher degree of mechanisation. However, their effect on viticultural costs and per litre costs on both flat terrain and steep slopes has not yet been analysed. This study quantifies the viticultural costs of vertical shoot positioning (VSP) and low-input training systems for standard processes on different types of flat terrain and steep slope vineyards. The costs were obtained from a dataset of 1,519 working time records of labour and machine hours from 20 vineyards belonging to five German wine estates over three years. The costs for standard viticultural processes were compared across three pairs of VSP and low-input training site types with different mechanisation intensities. The comparison was carried out by univariate analysis of variance with fixed and random effects, and by descriptive analysis of mean values.On flat terrain, SMPH significantly decreased the costs for the viticultural steps of winter pruning, tying, shoot positioning and defoliation, but it increased the cost for pest control. Hence, the total cost on flat terrain decreased marginally, but still significantly, by 46 %. The cost effects on steep slopes were similar, decreasing by 34 % for SMPH in unsupported steep slope harvester sites and by 46 % for MP rope and winch-supported steep slope sites. The per-litre costs were calculated for different yield levels. Since the yield in low input systems is higher than in VSP, the production costs per litre further decreased.The study confirmed the high cost-saving potential for wine growers of the mechanisation of canopy management and the omission of winter pruning in low-input systems. Combined with higher yields, the cost savings from low-input systems are particularly suitable for producers of bulk wine and market entry and mid-level wine profiles. By converting to low-input systems, the costs associated with mechanisable steep slope vineyards can be reduced to amounts approximating VSP on flat terrain. For certain wine profiles, low-input systems should therefore constitute an integral part of strategies to increase the economic sustainability of steep slope viticulture. The estimated cost benchmarks provide critical input for the cost-based pricing policy of steep slope growers. These benchmarks also give agricultural policy reliable indicators of the subsidies required for preserving steep slope landscapes.

Analysis and Forecasts of the Demand for Imported Wine in China

The aim of this study is to investigate the long-term determinants of China’s imported wine demand and to forecast wine imports from 2019 to 2023 using econometric methods. Auto-regressive distributed lag models are developed based on neoclassical economic demand theory to investigate the long-term determinants of China’s demand for imported bottled, bulk, and sparkling wine from the top five countries of origin. The empirical results demonstrate that income is the most important determinant of China’s imported wine demand, and that price only plays a significant role in a few markets. Substitute and complement effects are identified between wines from different countries of origin and between imported wines and other liquids. China’s imported wine demand is expected to maintain its rapid growth over the forecast period. Bottled wine will continue to dominate China’s imported wine market. France will have the largest market share in the bottled wine market, Spain will be the largest provider of bulk wine, and Italy will hold the same position for sparkling wine. This is the first study to use a single equation with the general to specific method rather than a system of equations to estimate and forecast China’s demand for imported bottled, bulk, and sparkling wines from different countries of origin. The more specific model setting for each country of origin improves forecasting accuracy.

Farming System Transformation Impacts on Landscape: A Case Study on Quality Wine Production in a Highly Contested Agricultural Landscape

This paper is an attempt to synthesize the conclusions of a series of consecutive research projects along a common thread. It focuses on the landscape impacts of a gradual transformation undergone by a low input and bulk wine producing system into a quality wine system. This transformation took place on the island of Santorini, in Cyclades, Greece, during the last four decades in a highly contested landscape. A polarization in the power game has been identified, with two poles having different priorities and perceptions about the two issues at stake: agricultural landscape and wine quality. In the course of this process, both synergistic and antagonistic transition dynamics are encountered, transforming significantly the balance of driving forces. Our analysis suggests that market forces influenced landscape change to a far greater degree than policy measures implemented on the island. Developments in the international markets for tourism and quality wine have played a crucial role in land use change and farming intensity. Public intervention in the form of both regulatory land use planning policy and incentive measures like Rural Development Policy, including an agri-environmental measure, targeted to the vineyards of Santorini, did not seem to have an equally important impact. Integration of landscape maintenance practices within the wine quality regime could create beneficial synergies.

The Sicilian cooperative system of wine production

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to verify whether, besides the traditional organisational models mainly implemented by wine-making cooperatives, more modern and hybrid organisational forms can be profitably applied within an increasingly competitive wine market.Design/methodology/approachThe study outlined in this paper deployed a mixed method. Specifically, an archived analysis, a survey and a descriptive case study (including visits, interviews and documentary analysis) were the methodological techniques used in this study, which were “in series but integrated” between themselves. In this paper, the landscape of Sicilian wine cooperatives is described by collating and processing different types of statistical sources, which have been integrated by direct surveys undertaken in 2017. Thereafter, the study focussed on a wine cooperative with a specific business model and a strategic edge by analysing its strategic choices and main structural and governance characteristics. Within this case study, a financial ratio analysis, which was based on 2011-2017 financial statements, was conducted to analyse the profitability, financial balance, capital structure and debt relationships of the wine cooperative.FindingsThe Sicilian wine cooperative system is still predominantly characterised by partial and vertical integration, implemented by cooperatives which elect to sell mainly bulk wine to wine merchants. In such a context, there is scope for other degrees of integration and strategic inter-firm alliances; the latter includes “vertical quasi-integration”. The study demonstrated how the wine cooperative under investigation is overcoming the structural problems of the regional wine sector and why it is retaining such a strategic alliance with one of the most important Italian wine conglomerates. Indeed, it has acquired greater strength and reliability since its collaboration with the aforementioned wine company. Thus, total revenue and the company’s market share of packaged wine have increased. However, there are still margins for improving sales’ profitability.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has territorial limitations but Sicilian wine cooperatives generally play an important role in the regional, Italian and European wine industries. As such, this research should be considered as an exploratory study, deserving further investigation into different strategic choices within the wine cooperative system by performing cross-case comparisons. Results may also be useful in orienting cooperative strategies in Sicily (or further afield) to small-to-medium wine cooperatives, often lacking specific abilities relating to the distribution, marketing and selling of their wine. Public agricultural policies may also be enlightened by these research pathways.Originality/valueThe authors contend that their study provides hitherto missing information relating to inter-firm strategic alliances, which wine cooperatives might implement to enhance their competitiveness and survive in the long-run.

The emergence of new wine design practices: Flexitanks and the assembling of bulk wine across global rural regions

AbstractIn this paper, we argue that the rapid expansion of exports as a share of global wine production is strongly related to the invention of flexitanks for wine transportation and the concurrent exponential growth of the bulk wine industry. Bulk wine fundamentally changes wine production, from the organisation of grape growing to the commercialisation of the final product, as it enables companies to assemble wine across the globe by establishing new connections between distant rural regions. Building on ethnographic fieldwork with New Zealand and Chilean bulk wine producers and German large‐scale wineries which specialise in bulk wine blending and bottling, our aim in this paper is to investigate how these new connections are forged and sustained. Drawing on the work of Çalışkan and Callon, we consider marketisation processes to be composed of different types of framing, and we analyse three of them in respect of the bulk wine market: objectification of goods, marketising agencies, and market encounters. Through detailed analysis of one market encounter that we have called “wine design sessions,” we show that German retailers align the other bulk wine agencies in a way that means they are well placed to decide on the final composition of the wines in a highly flexible accumulation scheme. It is through these wine design sessions and the practices of tasting, comparing, designing, analysing, and controlling wines that they organise the assembling and objectification of bulk wines from Chile and New Zealand (and from other countries around the globe) according to their specifications. Hence, rather than through top‐down pressure, coordination in the bulk wine market is accomplished through mundane practices and mechanisms which allow for action at a distance and which connect (and sometimes disconnect) rural regions on a global stage.

Forecasting bulk prices of Bordeaux wines using leading indicators

Agricultural price forecasting has been being abandoned progressively by researchers ever since the development of large-scale agricultural futures markets. However, as with many other agricultural goods, there is no futures market for wine. This paper draws on the agricultural prices forecasting literature to develop a forecasting model for bulk wine prices. The price data include annual and monthly series for various wine types that are produced in the Bordeaux region. The predictors include several leading economic indicators of supply and demand shifts. The stock levels and quantities produced are found to have the highest predictive power. The preferred annual and monthly forecasting models outperform naive random walk forecasts by 27.1% and 3.4% respectively; their mean absolute percentage errors are 2.7% and 3.4% respectively. A simple trading strategy based on monthly forecasts is estimated to increase profits by 3.3% relative to a blind strategy that consists of always selling at the spot price.

How to increase sustainability in the Finnish wine supply chain? Insights from a country of origin based greenhouse gas emissions analysis

As wine supply chains become increasingly globalized, sustainability issues take on ever greater importance. This is the first study to analyse the environmental sustainability aspect of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from a global wine supply chain perspective, covering just over 90% of Finland's wine imports. Lacking substantial domestic production capacity, virtually all wine consumed in Finland is imported. Finland is comparable to its Nordic neighbours, Sweden and Norway, in this respect.The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was combined with sensitivity and scenario analyses to investigate GHG emissions implications from prospective policy changes. Our results spotlight differences related to wine production in the eight main wine producing countries for the Finnish market (Australia, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, South Africa, and the United States), related logistics, and all packaging types for wine used in Finland (glass bottle, Bag-in-Box, PET bottle, beverage carton, and pouch). We found an average value of 1.23 kg CO2e for 0.75 L wine consumed in Finland, ranging from 0.59 kg CO2e for French wine in a bag-in-box packaging to 1.92 kg CO2e for Australian wine in a glass bottle. After identifying the main GHG emission hotspots in the wine supply chain, our scenario analyses highlight the effects of reducing glass bottle weight, moving away from glass packaging toward bag-in-box, increasing bulk wine export volumes to Finland, and following the European Commission's Energy 2020 strategy which targets increasing energy efficiency by 20 percent.

Picking out a wine: Consumer motivation behind different quality wines choice

The quality scale of Italian wines is mainly organized in four categories: PDO, PGI, basic and bulk wine. Our analysis explicitly investigates the patterns and determinants of consumption for these four different types of wine by analyzing a representative sample of consumers from a traditional wine-producing country. This study provides for first time insights on quality perceptions of wines and verifies whether Italian consumers perceive significant differences among the different categories of wines. The overall results, obtained through a system of equation estimates, show that consumer motivations and wine consumption determinants change according to each different range of wine quality and thereby support a hierarchical scale of quality wines, as a fact consumers’ motivation progressively changes as the quality scales of the wine increase or decrease. In addition, this study highlights for first time any differences in the consumption determinants between the PDO and the PGI wines in a national context and it suggests that the influence of the two different GI labels on the wine choice of consumers is truly different. Important insights were also provided for bulk wine whose consumption seems to be closely related to wine tourism and the desire to buy locally produced wines.

How Much Wine Is Really Produced and Consumed in China, Hong Kong, and Japan?

AbstractStatistics on the wine market in countries where it is not traditionally produced or consumed are estimates using simple methods. In northeast Asia those statistics are exaggerated for a combination of several reasons. One is a labelling issue: imported bulk wine is able to be added to domestically produced wine without the front label having to declare the bottle may contain foreign product. Similar freedom applies to wine made from imported grape juice concentrate. A second (particularly in China) is a double-counting issue: domestic wine produced in one region of the country may be blended with wine produced in and packaged for final sale from another region, with both regions claiming it as their contribution to national wine output. A third possibility is a smuggling issue: some wine re-exports and imports are unrecorded. These possibilities of the wine market being exaggerated are significant for firms seeking to export to and sell in such countries, especially in the fast-growing ones of northeast Asia. This article shows the extent to which estimates for the region could change for such indicators as per capita wine consumption, wine self-sufficiency, and the region's share of global wine consumption, when alternative assumptions are made in response to these issues. (JEL classifications: F14, L66, Q13, Y10)

Targeting markets for export of Macedonian wines to the EU

The Republic of Macedonia has all the prerequisites for pro duction of high quality wines and has great export potential, but Macedonian wines are almost unknown on the world wine market. Another problem is that most of the exported quantity is bulk wine, although in recent years the ratio be tween bulk and bottled wine started to change positively in terms of bottled wine. The wine market in the European Union is the most important export destination for Macedonian wines. Given the specificities of the wine market of in dividual member states, the aim of this paper is to select the countries in which the largest export of wine can be achieved. Macedonian wineries need to focus their export effort on the following markets: Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, Den mark and the Czech Republic. Methodology of desk research and market analysis is used for the conclusions.

Determination of Metal Elements in Wine Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS).

We developed a method for sensitive elemental analysis of wines using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). In order to overcome the inefficiency of direct ablation of bulk wine (an organic liquid), a thin layer of wine residue was prepared on a metallic target according to an appropriated heating procedure applied to an amount of liquid wine dropped on the target surface. The obtained ensemble was thus ablated. Such a sample preparation procedure used a very small volume of 2 mL of wine and took only 30 min without reagent or solvent. The results show the detection of tens of metal and non-metal elements including majors (Na, Mg, K, Ca), minors, and traces (Li, B, Si, P, Ti, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Rb, Sr, Ba, and Pb) in wines purchased from local supermarkets and from different production places in France. Commercially available wines were then spiked with certified standard solutions of Ti and Fe. Three series of laboratory reference samples were thus prepared using three different wines (a red wine and a white wine from a same production region and a red wine from another production region) with concentrations of Ti and Fe in the range of 1-40 mg/L. Calibration graphs established with the spiked samples allowed extracting the figures-of-merit parameters of the method for wine analysis such as the coefficient of determination ( R2) and the limits of detection and quantification (LOD and LOQ). The calibration curves built with the three wines were then compared. We studied the residual matrix effect between these wines in the determination of the concentrations of Ti and Fe.

Carbon-13 composition of bulk dry wines by irm-EA/MS and irm-13C NMR: An indicator of vine water status

Measurements performed on a set of 32 authentic wines (not submitted to any oenological treatment) and their ethanol, recovered by distillation, show high correlation between δ13 C of bulk wine and its ethanol. These measurements were performed by isotope ratio monitoring by mass spectrometry coupled to an elemental analyzer (irm-EA/MS). Then a series of wines produced by vines of which water status was assessed during the growing season with predawn leaf water potential measurements, was studied by irm-EA/MS. As expected δ13 C is correlated to vine water status conditions, as a result of stomatal closure. The ethanol of these specific wines was also analyzed by isotope ratio monitoring and by nuclear magnetic resonance (irm-13 C NMR) to determine carbon-13 composition on the two specific sites of the ethanol skeleton. If these measurements confirm the correlation between 13 C composition and vine growth conditions, the 13 C stereospecific information does not make vine water status assessment more precise.

Impact of wine technology on the variability of resveratrol and piceids in Saperavi ( Vitis vinifera L.)

Abstract The biologically active stilbenoids-resveratrol and its glucosides were identified in the dry bulk wines of different types made with red-grape vintage variety of Saperavi ( Vitis vinifera L.): cis-resveratrol, trans-resveratrol, cis-piceid and trans-piceid. Red and pink wines were made by different technology: I – dry, pink, of a European type; alcoholic fermentation with natural microflora; II – dry, pink, of a European type; alcoholic fermentation with dry yeast “B2000”. III – red, dry; alcoholic fermentation with no-stem pomace and aging on it for 5 months; IV – dry, red, of a Kakhetian type; alcoholic fermentation with stem pomace with natural microflora and aging on it for 5 months; V – dry, red, of a Kakhetian type, with preliminary fermentation of cluster stems, then, alcoholic fermentation with natural microflora and aging on it for 5 months. The impact of the wine-making technology on the variability of the concentrations of these substances is proved. Kakhetian bulk wines (IV and V) also differ from one another. Bulk wine-V made by the fermentation of grappa fermented in advance contains little concentration of study stilbenoids as a result of the oxidation transformations caused by the preliminary treatment. The role of grape juice, stem and seed in the localization of resveratrols and piceids in the bulk wines is identified.

δ(15) N from soil to wine in bulk samples and proline.

The feasibility of using δ(15) N as an additional isotopic marker able to link wine to its area of origin was investigated. The whole production chain (soil-leaves-grape-wine) was considered. Moreover, the research included evaluation of the effect of the fermentation process, the use of different types of yeast and white and red vinification, the addition of nitrogen adjuvants and ultrasound lysis simulating wine ageing. The δ(15) N of grapes and wine was measured in bulk samples and compounds, specifically in proline, for the first time. Despite isotopic fractionation from soil to wine, the δ(15) N values of leaves, grapes, wine and particularly must and wine proline conserved the variability of δ(15) N in the growing soil. Fermentation and ultrasound treatment did not affect the δ(15) N values of grape must, which was therefore conserved in wine. The addition of inorganic or organic adjuvants was able to influence the δ(15) N of bulk wine, depending on the amount and the difference between the δ(15) N of must and that of the adjuvant. The δ(15) N of wine proline was not influenced by adjuvant addition and is therefore the best marker for tracing the geographical origin of wine. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Development and trade competitiveness of the European wine sector: A gravity analysis of intra-EU flows

This study analyses the intra-EU trade of the world׳s chief wine exporters, namely Italy, France and Spain. Using an augmented version of the gravity model we empirically assess which of the three countries have experienced growth in intra-EU market trade. Effects of transportation costs, as well as demand and supply gaps between origin and destination countries, on the size of bilateral trade flows were specifically taken into account. Estimation results highlight the differences between bulk and bottled wine, providing useful information for European producers and policy-makers involved on regulation of wine sector. As concern bulk wine, Italy and Spain show no element of growth in competitiveness, while France shows a statistically significant annual decrease. In contrast, estimates for bottled wine all show a growth tendency, albeit with a different magnitude of coefficients. Italy is the country with the highest trend, followed by Spain and France which instead has a decidedly modest growth in export values. However, analysis of pricing policies shows that France does not appear to target an increase in export volumes so much as an increase in average unit price, while Italy, and especially Spain, have a tendency to increase export volumes, also to the detriment of prices.