Wine Business Research Articles

Wine Quality Prediction Using Machine Learning

Quality prediction of wine is a significant feature of the wine business and directly affects revenue, competition, and customer happiness. However, traditional approaches—like sensory assessment and chemical analysis—have generally been considered to have limits in terms of precision and effectiveness. This research compared which Random Woods, XGBoost logarithmic regression, Choice Tree Classifier, and k-nearest-neighbor algorithms were most effective in building and evaluating artificial intelligence classifiers for predicting the taste of red and white wines based on biological and physical attributes. We selected features and building strategies to improve the model on a dataset with 1,599 wine specimens with 13 molecular and physical properties. The trained models were then evaluated with reliability, precision, recollection, F1-score, and ROC-AUC metrics. In this regard, our findings indicated that class imbalance had been handled since the Random Forest and XGBoost gave the highest accuracy rates at 0.950158 and 0.950158, respectively. Unsurprisingly, the most important features that affect wine quality are pH, pH level, and sugar concentration. This case study Exhibit demonstrates how machine learning can appropriately and effectively forecast the quality of wine, providing producers with insightful information and thereby helping to build systems that will finally pay dividends to the wine business and the customers by making precise and successful prediction systems.

Small and medium enterprises meet the metaverse. A study of the wine industry

This study aims to enrich the knowledge of the technology adoption by small and medium enterprises, by focusing on the metaverse phenomenon and the implementation of metaverse projects by small and medium-sized enterprises through the lens of the technology life cycle theory. It adopts a qualitative approach based on multiple-case analysis to examine and categorize 28 metaverse experiences created by wine businesses. The work provides a framework for the metaverse experimentations by firms which is structured around three different stages of metaverse, that are (1) the isolated metaverse, (2) the integrated metaverse, and (3) the augmented metaverse, corresponding to different degrees of integration of the technology in the user experience according to the level of interaction and immersiveness that is generated. This study also identifies the boundaries of metaverse settings by determining, from an experiential perspective, which experiences cannot be defined as belonging to the metaverse sphere. The analysis showcases the patterns toward the metaverse technology adoption by businesses and provides an interpretation of the different types of metaverse experiences that can be integrated into the business strategies of small and medium-sized enterprises. It also highlights the obstacles that preside over the wide adoption of the metaverse technology by firms.

Effects of sensory cues on consumers’ wine taste perceptions and behavior: evidence from a wine-tasting experiment

PurposeThis study aims to investigate how sensory cue order, wine knowledge and visual–olfactory (V–O) congruence affect consumer’s taste perceptions of wine and their subsequent behavior.Design/methodology/approachAn experiment was performed to identify the effects of sensory cue congruence and sensory cue order on wine consumers’ perceptions of wine, affective evaluations, cognitive evaluations and purchase intentions.FindingsWine experts exhibited positive emotional responses to congruent sensory cues in the V–O order. Experts’ enjoyment of wine’s aroma, their emotional responses, their cognitive evaluations and their purchase intentions were lower in the incongruent condition. Consumers’ negative emotions elicited by the V–O sequence were also less intense than those triggered by the olfactory–visual (O–V) sequence. Wine experts demonstrated more positive emotional responses in the V–O sensory congruent condition.Research limitations/implicationsThis study highlights how visual and olfactory sensory cue order, wine knowledge and sensory cue congruence interact to clarify wine-related behavioral intention. Findings reveal the roles of these factors in shaping sensory perceptions, cognitive evaluations, affective evaluations and behavior related to wine consumption.Practical implicationsThis study holds implications for various stakeholders, including winemakers, wine businesses, restaurants and the broader hospitality industry. Wine businesses can enhance advertising effectiveness by tailoring their marketing efforts to customers’ knowledge levels and emphasizing the inherent attributes that align with individuals’ preferences. Winemakers can improve consumers’ sensory experiences by enhancing the natural color of wines. Restaurants can strive to ignite diners’ positive emotions and experiences by providing congruent information. Furthermore, sensory-driven strategies can be used in the hospitality sector to elevate customers’ positive emotions.Originality/valueThis study fills gaps in wine research by delineating how wine knowledge and related sensory cues can influence consumers’ sensory perceptions, cognitive evaluations, affective evaluations and behavior. These aspects have been largely overlooked in previous work.

How to promote sustainable wine tourism: Insights from Italian and French young adults

With over 40 million annual tourists visiting wineries, wine tourism is becoming an important source of revenue for wine businesses and local communities to preserve heritage in rural regions. It is perceived as a strategy to increase economic and social sustainability. Two cross-sectional surveys in France and Italy explored the interest of 1205 young adults and the influence of individual features on sustainable wine tourism intention. Two scenarios with differently framed environmental information were tested through a mock winery webpage. Wine involvement, environmental attitude, perceived behavioural control were identified as core traits prompting young adults to experience sustainable wine tourism. The adoption of co-compatible practices and winery commitment in preserving biodiversity emerged as more attractive than a sustainability certification.

An Overview on Flavor Extraction, Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Significance, and Production of Herbal Wines.

Wine has been utilized as a source for medicinal preparations, combined with various herbs, to treat particular ailments and disorders. By utilizing herb extracts, regular but limited consumption of these herbal wines helps to decrease the need for prescription medications to treat a variety of ailments. The diversity and the composition of the yeast micropopulation significantly contribute to the sensory characteristics of wine. A particular metabolic activity characterizes the growth of each wine yeast species, which determines the concentrations of flavor compounds in the final wine. Numerous herbs, such as tulsi, ginger, aloe vera, tea, amla, lemongrass, and peppermint, are used in the preparation of herbal wines, where either the herb or herbal blends are primarily used as the substrate. The variants provided improved accuracy, increased acceptability, and broader uses for the novel product. Herbal wines pave the way to provide nutraceuticals to consumers and protection against pathogenic microorganisms and inflammation through their richness in antioxidants. The existing herbal wines and their health advantages are discussed in this Review, along with some new directions for the herbal wine business.

Gastronomy and wine tourism transformation towards resilient destinations

Purpose The purpose of this study is to develop research questions and explore industry expert perceptions related to the process of transformative changes in post-COVID-19 gastronomy and wine tourism. Design/methodology/approach To achieve this purpose, the authors applied individual and collective brainwriting techniques using the digital whiteboard, Mural. The research questions were answered within Mural's Sailboat template, which helped industry experts describe four situational areas and their symbolic elements. These included transformative change – the island, strategies – the wind, challenges – the anchors and strengths – the coral. The exploration was conducted across interpersonal, organisational and intra-destination levels. Findings This study results yielded a know-how framework that synthesised the insights of industry experts. The framework underscores the importance of a sequential approach to embrace transformative change to mindsets, practices and systems. It also advocates strategies (new leadership style, business solutions and community empowerment), potential challenges (self-doubt, established organisational culture and inertia within large systems) and leveraging industry strengths (personality traits, human resources and organisational interdependence) to effectively navigate the evolving gastronomy and wine tourism environment. Originality/value This paper represents a pioneering effort in assessing the key areas in the gastronomy and wine business and drawing parallels to the essential levels of transformation required to effectively cope with upcoming uncertainties.

Wine Quality Prediction using Machine Learning

Abstract: According to the most recent statistics, India is a developing wine market in Asia's New World countries. Although the Indian wine business is in its infancy in terms of area, predictions, and marketing of wines, eighty percent of consumption is concentrated in cities. In today’s world, it is very crucial to find out the quality of the wine we are using as it can affect our health, badly. [8] This model aims to predict the quality of different types of wines, based on parameters like percentage of acidity, sulphates, chlorides, sugar, pH used. This model demonstrates, how statistically it can be used to identify the components that mainly control the wine before it is produced in the country. This will also assist winemakers regulate quality, which will benefit both, the country's economy, and people's health.

Analysis of the Profit Model of the Portuguese Wine Business

Analysis of the Profit Model of the Portuguese Wine Business

The competitiveness of Romagna wineries. An exploratory analysis of the impact of different strategic approaches on business performance

This paper proposes an exploratory study of the competitiveness of Romagna wineries. A double approach has been adopted to analyse it, as both Porter’s Theory of Competitive Advantage and Barney’s Resource-based Theory have been considered. The final purposes are to uncover which categories of resources and capabilities are related to firm performance and to investigate the main strategic orientations of the most successful Romagna wineries. To conduct the research, an online questionnaire was sent to 115 wineries located in the Romagna territory, achieving a response rate of about 24.35%. According to the preliminary results, it has been found that the most successful wineries in this area do not follow a cost leadership strategy, while they perform a differentiation strategy. These firms put a lot of effort into building a reputation in the market. On the other hand, managerial and technological capabilities seem to be not positively related to firm performance, while marketing capabilities exert a stronger impact. This study would give an input to the strategic and managerial studies in the wine business sector, and adopt an innovative theoretical approach in the analysis of competitive advantage. Moreover, this work focuses on the Romagna territory, fulfilling the need for research that considers the local wine industry and its competitiveness, to open the way to further studies.

Thriving on the Vine: The Growth of Black Entrepreneurs in the American Wine Industry

Black winemakers and wine entrepreneurs have been largely omitted from the United States wine industry and its history. Despite Black vintners’ presence as early as the country’s antebellum period, the concept of Black wine entrepreneurs has been understudied. Ironically, the death of George Floyd in 2020 and the resulting “Buy Black” movement catalyzed widespread attention on African American-owned businesses, including those in wine production and related categories. As consumer interest and media coverage increased for Black-owned wine businesses, entrants increasingly pursued the industry through diverse business models and offerings. In the current paper, a brief history of Black commercial vintners is introduced, followed by an overview of current producers, as well as pivotal milestones, and concluding with strategies for future entrepreneurial success.

Effects of Climate Change and Phenological Monitoring of the Indigenous Godello Variety in a Territory of Heroic Viticulture and Biosphere Reserve

In the year 2023, the phenological behaviour of the indigenous Godello variety of vineyard was evaluated at Souto Chao, located in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula, which is a wine-growing region and considered as the place of Designation of Origin (Ribeira Sacra DO). In 2017 and 2018, a similar study was carried out on the same plants of Godello variety, but this latest study aimed to ascertain the nature and extent of changes in the crop’s phenology within the timeframe between the initial two years analysed (2017 and 2018) and the present year, 2023. The scale used for study was the one proposed by the BBCH of Lorenz. The average length of the vegetative cycle in the initial two years was 167 days (161 and 174 days in 2017 and 2018, respectively), while in 2023 it was 164 days. The results obtained show a longer vegetative cycle in 2018, with significant differences between the beginning and end of the different phenological phases. Of the three years analysed, 2018 stands out showing a significant deviation from the average. Moreover, there is a close relationship between the phenological behaviour of the Godello variety and certain climatic parameters. Temperature is the most decisive factor, specifically the average annual minimum temperature, which was lower in 2018. In addition, the highest thermal requirements were observed in that same year, with figures slightly above 5200 GDD. As for the historical harvest dates, there are only two recorded years in which the grape harvest took place in August, namely in 2017 and 2023. In this geographical region, the grape harvest, with the exception of the two years mentioned above, usually takes place in September, as was the case in 2018. The vulnerability of viticulture to climate change depends on the magnitude of the impacts. Global warming is the great challenge for the wine business and will force changes in vineyard management to curb its most damaging effects. Its most obvious effects, such as the rise in average global temperature or the decrease and redistribution of rainfall, increasingly in the form of occasional and intense storms, have gone from perception to certainty.

Benchmarking Economic Sustainability: What Factors Explain Heterogeneity between Wine Businesses?

To assess a wine producer’s economic sustainability, it is useful to benchmark its economic indicators against a suitable reference group. Existing research mainly compares wine businesses either by region or by size alone. There is a research gap concerning which of the two benchmarking factors can be more suitable or whether both factors are required. Using a framework of economic sustainability benchmarking figures, the effects of region and size, as well as the effect of their interactions, on 10 economic indicators were estimated through an ANOVA and the estimation of effect sizes. The analysis is based on a unique data set of business data averages of 382 German wine estates across six agricultural years (2014–2019). Region and size both had a significant influence on 7 out of 10 benchmark indicators. Wine estates from distinct regions more strongly differed in their primary indicators of production factors, price and yield as well as secondary indicators of cost and productivity. Contrarily, wine estates of diverse size groups more strongly differed in their tertiary indicators of profitability and return, which are key indicators of economic sustainability. Both size and region should be utilized for suitable economic indicators when benchmarking wine businesses for future assessments of economic sustainability. Hereby, this paper provides a first step in making economic sustainability less subjective for the German wine industry and how to move forward in regards to benchmarking within empirical frameworks and tools of economic sustainability.

Passing the torch or the hot potato? Leadership in the wine industry: an empirical investigation

ABSTRACT Most studies that investigate sustainability across the wine industry and related support industries focus on the ‘triple-bottom-line.’ None directly consider company leadership as a sustainability driver. What skills will leaders of successive generations need? Two qualitative field research methodologies are used for this investigation: content analyses of published wine business case studies and focus groups with wine business leaders. Findings indicate that leaders continuously develop a combination of transactional and transformational skills and capabilities that comprise: (a) support from the previous generation, (b) emotional intelligence, (c) industry knowledge, and (d) active listening. A 2 × 2 matrix modeling optimal vs. sub-optimal leadership styles, as well as propositions for further research and implications for practitioners are presented.

Assessment of climate impact on grape productivity: A new application for bioclimatic indices in Italy

Italy is a world leader for viticulture and wine business with an export valued 7 billion of euros in 2021, and wine being the second most exported product within the national agri-food sector. However, these figures might be threatened by climate change and winegrowers call for more reliable local information on future impacts of climate change on viticulture.The study aims to understand the impact of climate on wine production in Italy using grape productivity data and bioclimatic indices. Using temperature and precipitation observations from the E-OBS gridded dataset, a set of bioclimatic indices recommended by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine guidelines is calculated and correlated with grape productivity data at the regional scale (Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics, NUTS, level 2) over the last 39 years (1980-2019). The study investigates how both long-term change and natural variability of the bioclimatic indices impacted on grape productivity. Both single and multi-regression approaches are applied to assess the portion of grape productivity variability explained by the selected indices.When the single-regression approach is applied, the correlations between bioclimatic indices and grape productivity explain up to the 45 % of total production variability, however they are statistically significant only in few regions. Conversely, the multi-regression approach improves the proportion of variance explained and gives statistically significative results in region where the single regression is not statically significant.The multi-regressive approach shows the added value of considering the interplay of different bioclimatic indices in explaining the overall variability of productivity. The possibility of using bioclimatic indicators as a proxy for grape productivity provides a simple tool that grape growers, wine consortia and policy makers can use to adapt to future climate.

Wine Companies’ Profitability in the Old World: Working Capital’s Impact

The purpose—The aim of this paper is to explain the relationship between working capital and profitability in the context of the wine industry. Design/methodology/approach—Artificial neural networks were used to analyze the relationship between working capital management and the profitability of Old World firms, based on a sample of 324 firms. Findings—The results suggest a positive relationship between the cash conversion cycle and the profitability of winery firms. Thus, an increase in the cash conversion cycle seems to increase wine companies’ profitability. Thus, managers can generate shareholder value by increasing the cash conversion cycle to a reasonable level. Regarding days of payable outstanding, there is a negative influence of the average payment term on the profitability of wine companies. This leads to the fact that the longer a company takes to pay its creditors, the less profitable it appears to be. In terms of days sales outstanding, the results suggest the existence of a negative impact of the average collection period on the profitability of winery firms. In other words, a reduction in the number of days a firm receives payment for sales positively affects the firm’s profitability. Finally, the results of the study show a positive relationship between days of outstanding inventory and the profitability of wineries, suggesting that wineries that maintain sufficiently high inventory levels have higher profitability. These results indicate that managers could create value for their shareholders if they managed their working capital more efficiently. Practical limitations/implications—The neural network can predict profits based on working capital management. However, the applied research methodology should be extended to other business typologies and wine firms of other countries to allow the generalization of results. Originality/value—This paper is the first study on the impact of working capital management on the financial performance of companies in the wine sector, particularly in the Old World. The results are an input to the wine business sector literature, one of the most representative of regional economies in the countries focused. The applied methodology can be adopted more broadly and underlies managerial implications. For future research, a similar analysis can be envisaged for the New World, and a comparison between the two blocks of countries, given the difference in characteristics and techniques of wine production, could be made.

Destination-Centric Wine Exports: Offering Design Concepts and Sustainability

With more than 40% of produced wine crossing borders, wine represents a truly global beverage. Wine export serves as a sales lever, especially for producers where home wine consumption diminishes but the global wine business is highly competitive. The literature tells that in competitive market innovation, customer centrism, and increasing sustainability are key. Wine export offerings need to meet the customer’s desires in the targeted foreign destinations. German wine providers have to catch-up in regard to destination-specific preferences so they can offer adaptation or suffer a competitive disadvantage in sustainability positioning. The main aims of this study were to validate the importance of sustainability in wine import and to explore destination-specific preferences and potential sustainable offer designs on the basis of new, fungus-resistant grape (FRG) wines by an explorative, qualitative approach. Evaluating the key export markets for German wine, the study delved into a performance assessment on how German providers who are marked by small-scale structures and fragmentation are positioned in regard to the primary purchasing factors in global wine competition, in regard to sustainability, and how to overcome performance gaps by tailoring destination-specific export offerings. In order to close a lack of research on destination-oriented sustainable wine offer design and to provide orientation for practitioners, an empirical study tested wine export offerings in the form of four concepts with a strong emphasis on sustainability and FRGs. More than 100 wine experts in the five key countries for German wine exports served to explore country preferences for offer elements and perceived performance of German wine producers. The interviews revealed (a) that sustainability is a must for wine export sales; (b) that German wine producers limp in sustainability reputation; (c) the existence of country-specific preferences allowing exporters to tailor their offerings to the specific needs in their ambition to increase export performance; (d) that German wine producers can potentially claim sustainability on the basis of a fitting concept; (e) FRGs are potentially suited to reposition innovatively and sustainably; (f) a playful exploitation of stereotypes for German suppliers is risky; (g) that an offer concept on sustainability and “made in Germany” characteristics (design, technology, and reliability) is highly regarded potentially allowing to escape price cutting in their key export destinations.

STRATEGIC FAMILY WINERY BRAND LAUNCH IN THE VUCA (VOLATILITY, UNCERTAINTY, COMPLEXITY, AMBIGUITY) MARKET: THREE CASE STUDIES FROM SERBIAN MARKET


 The purpose of this study is to extend previous research on brand innovation by uncovering the process of family winery branding in relation to the new product launch in the VUCA market on the case of three Serbian wineries. The study deploys qualitative oriented and empirical approach in presenting a multi-case study. Three semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with owners and/or managers in these three wineries. The results demonstrate that all three family wineries are offering high-end product for the domestic market with smaller one still experimenting with strategic direction of innovating for high-end market while the two larger ones putting focus either on autochthonous grape varieties with eye-cathicng labels or authentic brand identity with strong storytelling. Another important aspect identified is the frugal nature of product launch in the family wineries due to limited resources. The paper presents is among only few studies on new product development in wine business literature.

State of the International Wine Markets in 2022: New market trends for wines require new strategies

The objective of this discussion paper is to provide an overview of the state of the global wine sector in 2022 and discuss the effects of recent events on the wine trade’s development. First, long-term trends in the global consumption and production of wine and the development of the international wine trade are discussed. The growth trend of global wine consumption ceased in 2008, but the last decade in the global wine trade has been characterised by stagnant volumes but increasing values driven by premiumisation. Several recent events have affected the volume or composition of the global wine trade: the recovery of the wine trade after Covid-19, global cost increases and inflation, the shift of Chinese wine consumption and the effect of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Russian wine imports. The paper closes with an outlook on how underlying long-term trends might affect the strategies that successful wine business can employ in the future and suggests future areas of research in the wine business and economics.

Market-oriented succession effectiveness in family business – Case-based evidence from Cyprus family-owned wine business

The incessant effort towards long-term survival and competitiveness is especially strong among family businesses, which, due to their unique characteristics, face particular challenges that jeopardize their business potential and market orientation. The aim of this paper is to identify, explicate and interrelate the critical factors of a strategic and holistic market-oriented succession process within Cypriot family-owned wineries. This empirical study was conducted through the perceptual lens of two key stakeholder groups: incumbents and family owners. And applied two methods, collected in two phases. The first included a survey with 52 family-owned wineries operating across the Republic of Cyprus, and the second encompassed 16 in-depth personal interviews with incumbents and successors from six wineries. The originality and novel theoretical contribution of the paper is twofold: (a) it employs, expounds and interrelates extant theories with solid empirical findings to provide a descriptively comprehensive understanding of the key market-oriented family business succession principles within Cyprus’s family-owned wine industry, and (b) it prescriptively develops the WineSuccess Framework®, which unequivocally intertwines 16 fundamental factors that contribute to the implementation of an effective market-oriented succession process in the same and comparable contexts.

Analysis and Impact of Factors Influencing Supply and Demand of Wine

The paper presents the state, importance, risks, and other factors regarding wine supply and demand. Vine cultivation and wine production, as part of agricultural production, contribute to a certain extent to the gross domestic product in several ways. There is a noticeable increase in vineyards and private wine production. This paperwork is mostly based on the results of the master’s thesis research by the first co-author mentioned, Dejan Obucinski, called "Economics of sustainable wine production and supply in the Republic of Serbia." Presenting the state of wine supply and demand contributes to overcoming risks in the wine business, which will be presented and considered in this paper from the economic level of an organizational perspective, i.e., by using one of the multi-criteria decision-making methods for the structural analysis of a complex system.