Wine Culture Research Articles

Creating a wine heritage in Japan

This paper examines how Japanese grape wine production has been promoted as cultural heritage, through the collaboration of local official and private actors. In 2018, Japan’s wine making was designated as a national cultural heritage through a governmental program called “Japan Heritage,” highlighting the history associated with wine production in a specific area in Yamanashi Prefecture, a long-standing wine-making region in Japan. In this creation of heritage, historical narratives of wine production have been rediscovered and invented. Essentially, this heritagization strategy is not preserving wine culture but creating one, developing touristic resources and stimulating local economy. The politics of making wine heritage in Japan reveals a national governance of food culture with the goal of making Japan a global tourism destination and promoting rural development.

Wine tourism destination competitiveness: The case of Georgia

Being a highly competitive tourism destination means contributing to the better standard of living for the local community while having sustainability in focus. This paper aims to discuss the most important factors which make Georgia a competitive wine tourism destination. Georgia is often referred to as the birthplace of wine and has its culture and traditions deeply connected to it. The country has authentic food and wine heritage which is a central point for its renowned hospitality. Ancient wine culture attracts present-day curious visitors. The study overviews the academic literature on the key concepts and analyses the wine tourism industry in Georgia. The research summarizes that the country as a wine tourism destination has great opportunities to be competitive. Its history, traditions, hospitality, nature, and other qualities are inherited resources that can attract high-spending visitors and hence contribute to the well-being of the local community. On the other hand, there are some issues and threats that must be tackled for long-term success. The paper suggests that learning the topic with empirical methods is necessary.

Assessing the Effects of Perceived Value on Event Satisfaction, Event Attachment, and Revisit Intentions in Wine Cultural Event at Yibin International Exhibition Center, Southwest China

The study examines the relationships among perceived value, event satisfaction, event attachment, and revisit intentions in a wine cultural festival context. Data was collected by questionnaire survey at many famous wine tourism sites at Yibin, China and a total of 419 valid samples were received. A questionnaire survey analyzed by SEM supports the model of revisit intentions as a function of attendees’ expressive and instrumental responses resulting from output/input perceptions of perceived value and a pleasurable level of consumption-related fulfillment of event satisfaction. Implications, such as the managers should design valuable activities to attendees and satisfy their needs for experiencing of wine culture, are displayed as well as future research opportunities recommended.

Managing Attendees’ WOM at a Wine Cultural Event: The Moderating Role of Novelty Seeking

The purpose of this study is to investigate the perspectives of attendees on novelty seeking of a wine culture event to assess what drives their word of mouth. A questionnaire survey was undertaken for collecting data at a wine cultural event held at Yibin. A total of 315 valid samples were received for the further hypotheses testing. The results showed that both perceived value and event satisfaction were key antecedents of word of mouth and the moderating role of novelty seeking was confirmed. Finally, the manageable results for wine culture event managers and future researchers were drawn.

(Not) drinking wine - [CrossTalk

FRANCE AND WINEwhat an iconic link, and for centuries, how immutable! Wine was introduced by Greeks before the Romans conquered Gaul. Production greatly expanded during the Middle Ages, and since then the very names of the regions-Bordeaux, Bourgogne, Champagne-have become a symbol of quality everywhere. Thus has the French culture of wine long been a key signifier of national identity.

The Determinates of Revisit Intentions in Wine Cultural Event: The Moderating Role of Experience Authenticity

The purpose of this study is to investigate the perspectives of attendees on experience authenticity of a wine culture event to assess what drives their revisit intentions. A questionnaire survey was undertaken for collecting data at a wine cultural event held at Yibin. A total of 529 valid samples were received for the further hypotheses testing. The results showed that both perceived value and event satisfaction were key antecedents of revisit intentions and the moderating role of experience authenticity was confirmed. Finally, the manageable results for wine culture event managers and future researchers were drawn.

Linking wine culture, identity, tourism and rural development in a denomination of origin territory (NW of Spain)

El papel de las sinergias entre cultura del vino, identidad territorial y turismo puede ser crucial para el desarrollo rural. El enfoque de la investigación considera la percepción y experiencia de los actores locales sobre esta cuestión, en el territorio de la Denominación de Origen Ribeira Sacra (Noroeste de España). La metodología está basada en la realización de entrevistas en profundidad. La cultura del vino, junto con su paisaje y patrimonio, favorece la consolidación de las estrategias turísticas. Las sinergias entre cultura del vino, identidad y turismo generan valores esenciales para el desarrollo rural. The role played by synergies between wine culture, territorial identity and tourism may be crucial for rural development. This research focuses on the perception and experiences about this topic by the local actors in the territory of the Denomination of Origin Ribeira Sacra (NW Spain). The research relied on twelve in-depth interviews. The wine culture, along with its landscape and heritage, favors the consolidation of tourism strategies. The synergies between the world of wine, identity and tourism generate values that are essential for rural development.

Towards quality consumption

Purpose Hungarian wine culture has been developing steadily over the past decades. The number of wineries offering quality wine is growing as consumer interest in quality consumption increases. The purpose of this paper is to study the segmentation of the Hungarian wine consumers based on their purchase habits and preferences to identify how this shift towards quality consumption is represented in these segments. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was conducted in Hungary. Nearly 28,000 consumers filled in the questionnaire. The TwoStep Cluster analysis could handle the large database and variables measured on different measurement scales. Findings The growing interest towards quality wine in the market is reflected in the study’s segmentation results. The large sample size made it possible to identify a special Hungarian wine consumer group, which has different buying habits than traditional wine consumer segments. Four segments were evolved: ordinary wine consumers, unsophisticated wine consumers, wealthy wine-experts and open-minded consumers. The last two segments seem to be the most valuable groups for high-quality wine producers. Originality/value The sample size allowed a relatively novel segmentation, whereby the preferences and purchasing habits of smaller, high-quality wine consumer groups became measurable.

Las Buenas Prácticas para el enoturismo sustentable en el Valle de Guadalupe, Ensenada, Baja California, México. Un enfoque desde las Ciencias Sociales y Administrativas

En Baja California se registra un importante punto de referencia en la producción de uva y su industrialización para obtener vino. En los últimos años se ha estado consolidando esta área de viñedos como un destino de interés para visitantes y turistas. Se identifican actividades de degustación de vinos de la región, servicio de restaurantes y comidas, de artesanías, colocándolo ahora como la Ruta del Vino (Colef, 2013). En este contexto, la promoción y el crecimiento de la actividad turística, trae consigo la creciente presencia de visitantes, quienes demandan alimento, agua, transporte y que generan a su vez, residuos y desechos. En esta tesitura, el artículo aborda el análisis del enoturismo, identificando sus actividades y sus efectos, en la región de Ensenada, para revisar este tipo de turismo, bajo el enfoque de Buenas Prácticas de Turismo. En los resultados es posible identificar una incipiente incorporación a esas Buenas Prácticas de turismo. 
 El presente trabajo es derivado de un trabajo más extenso que precisamente tuvo como objetivo general identificar las Buenas Prácticas del Turismo Enológico en el Valle de Guadalupe, Ensenada, Baja California, México.
 El alcance de la investigación se define como exploratoria, descriptiva intentando indagar desde una perspectiva novedosa el tema, con pocos antecedentes de investigación y tratamiento, especificando las propiedades y características de la situación y grupos a estudiar del fenómeno elegido (Sampieri et al., 2006). El trabajo de investigación del que deriva este artículo se basó en una metodología cualitativa de tipo fenomenológico que, acorde con Creswell (1998) pretende describir y entender los fenómenos desde el punto de vista de cada participante y desde la perspectiva que se construye de manera colectiva; además, se basa en el análisis del discurso.
 La metodología utilizada fue de tipo cualitativo, descriptiva y de corte transversal. Para la recolección de datos se utilizó la técnica de la entrevista semiestructurada aplicada a catorce empresas vinícolas de la región, de las 119 registradas en el 2017 en el sitio oficial de la Secretaría de Turismo, del Estado de Baja California (SECTURE, 2017).
 El análisis de datos se desarrolló utilizando la herramienta informática ATLAS TI.
 Una de las conclusiones fundamentales es que el seguimiento de las Buenas Practicas en el turismo enológico apuntan hacia la necesidad del fortalecimiento de la cultura del vino, en el Valle de Guadalupe.

Novel and Rapid Methods for Histamine Quantification in Wine and Culture Medium

Fermented beverages are frequently contaminated with histamine produced by lactic acid bacteria exhibiting histidine decarboxylase activity. In wine, the presence of histamine is associated with a lack of hygiene during the winemaking process. Determination of histamine is important because it can be toxic to humans. Therefore, we developed two rapid, inexpensive, and simple methods—a colorimetric technique and a thin-layer chromatography technique—to determine histamine concentration in wine and culture medium without the need for complicated extraction procedures. The new colorimetric method showed a good correlation between absorbance and histamine concentration in the range of 1.0 to 100 mg/L of histamine in wine and Moeller culture broth samples (r2 = 0.9981 and 0.9941, respectively). Thin-layer chromatography with a new visualization reagent also demonstrated a good correlation between histamine concentrations of 5.0 to 100 mg/L and absorbance (r2 = 0.9882 and 0.9839 for wine and Moeller culture broth samples, respectively). Both methods showed a high correlation with ELISA (colorimetric method: r2 = 0.9972; thin-layer chromatography: 0.9968) and exhibited good histamine recovery (higher than 87%). The detection limits of the new methods were comparable to those of existing analytical methods. Both methods seem suitable for routine analysis to monitor histamine in any research or quality-control laboratory.

Az érzékszervek hatása a borvásárlásra és fogyasztásra

Interest in wine has grown in the recent decades. The examination of consumer behavior has become more and more important in countries with highly-developed wine cultures, which is a result of the developing market, the expending supply, the strengthening competition as well as the diverse demands (Hoffmeister & Totth, 2004).
 Similarly to food consumption, wine consumption is also influenced by several factors. The purchasing decision is influenced by biological, economic, demographic, psychological, social and cultural factors. Sensory marketing is related to the biological factors from the factors in the above because it focuses on sensation and sensory perception (Lehota, 2001).
 Seeing is the most intensive among our sensory organs, as we perceive 80% of the information from the world with our eyes. With the help of this we can recognize possible changes in the appearance of a product; we perceive the different design, colors, packaging, forms and materials. Thus, appearance is the most significant element of sensory marketing. When the appearance of a product is appealing, it will be able to satisfy functional as well as emotional needs (Tóbiás, 2010).
 The complex experience provided by wine consumption is triggered by the simultaneous interaction of several sensory organs (Becker & Izsó, 2011). In our primary research we examined the role of the elements of sensory marketing in wine purchasing and consumption habits. In our focus group interviews we discussed participants’ wine purchasing and consumption habits and the factors influencing purchase

Old Sake in New Glasses: Reframing Japan's National Drink through Global Wine Culture

Japan is experiencing a sake boom, more precisely, the growing popularity of premium sake. It is the result of a dramatic reform of the Japanese sake industry over the past few decades. In this article, I argue that, from a cultural perspective, wine culture is being adopted as a cultural frame to facilitate the revival and rebranding of Japan's national drink. This adoption is a “culinary translation” of Japanese sake through the globally familiar language of wine. In this process, the Japaneseness of sake is by no means challenged, but made “legible” through the more familiar discourse and practices prevalent in the culture of wine.

Geographical Turns and Historical Returns in Narrating French Wine Culture

ABSTRACTThe narration of French wine culture in the twentieth century has been markedly influenced by the geographers Paul Vidal de la Blache, Roger Dion, and Jean-Robert Pitte. Their impact is notable in redefining terroir as not only a geological, climactic, and topographical phenomenon, but a space which is also dependent on human intervention and tradition, including social and economic infrastructure. In this article, I will trace the postwar construction and more recent deconstruction of the geographical discourse on French wine culture. It provides an overview of the context in which these geographers’ wine writing emerged, exposing the innovations and specificities of work by Vidal de la Blache, Dion and Pitte., This analysis is supplemented by contemporary reviews and subsequent referencing by historians and geographers. In conclusion, I will look at more recent criticism and engagement with Dion’s legacy and Pitte’s influence, to ascertain the pertinence and the status of their wine research today.

Rejection of labrusca-type aromas in wine differs by wine expertise and geographic region

Methyl anthranilate (MA) and 2-aminoacetophenone (2AAP) are commonly associated with the flavor of wines made from V. labruscana grapes. It is widely assumed that wine experts and consumers find these flavors to be objectionable, at least in wines vinified from V. vinifera grapes. Here, a two-alternative forced-choice task was used to compare preference for unoaked Chardonnay against the same Chardonnay spiked with MA or 2AAP in ascending concentration series. Participants were either wine experts from California, or non-expert wine consumers from California or Pennsylvania. Wines were evaluated in the mouth and participants were instructed to indicate which sample within a pair they preferred. Rejection threshold estimates were determined by regressing 2AFC responses against concentration. Consistent with the expectation that experts view V. labrusca associated odors as a fault, wines with high concentrations of methyl anthranilate were largely rejected by wine experts in California. However, non-expert consumers in California were more tolerant than the wine experts in California, and non-expert consumers in Pennsylvania showed little to no influence of added methyl anthranilate on their preferences. Contrary to expectations however, 2-aminoacetophenone failed to elicit rejection in California wine experts or consumers within the range tested. Our results suggest that while V. vinifera wines may occasionally contain amounts of methyl anthranilate and 2-aminoacetophenone that are detectable in chemical analysis, the presence of these odorants at levels naturally found in V. vinifera wines is insufficient to elicit rejection from wine experts or consumers, regardless of their regional wine culture.

Progress for research of grape and wine culture in Georgia, the South Caucasus

This communication will provide the latest information about the progress of the “Research Project for the Study of Georgian Grapes and Wine Culture”, managed by the National Wine Agency of Georgia since 2014. Local and foreign institutions continue to work together with the aim of stimulating multidisciplinary scientific research activity on Georgian viticulture and viniculture and to reconstruct their development from Neolithic civilizations to the present. The project is multidisciplinary in nature, merging contributions from archaeology, history, ethnography, molecular genetics, biomolecular archaeology, palaeobotany, ampelography, enology, climatology and other scientific fields.

Analysis of agroclimatic resources for Georgian viticulture

One of the results of the “Research Project for the Study of Georgian Grapes and Wine Culture” promoted by the National Wine Agency of the Republic of Georgia was the production of a bilingual handbook for modern viticulture. The first sections of the handbook were devoted to the agrometeorological analysis of environmental resources and limitations, comprising a general analysis of Georgian climate and agrometeorological features, followed by detailed regional cards. The agrometeorological analysis of Georgia was based on daily data collected by National and International networks for the period 1974-2013. Several agrometeorological indexes were calculated in order to define resources and limitations for viticulture for each viticultural region of Georgia, providing fundamental information for grape-growing and wine-making.

Designing sustainable and responsible wine tourism experiences

Wine tourism involves a wide ecosystem of actors. It is not only a source of revenue for wine regions, for the wine business value chain and for local societies, but it can also reveal and safeguard the cultural heritage of wine and support wine regions sustainability. Wine in Moderation – Art de Vivre is an international programme of the wine sector for a sustainable wine culture looking to inspire well-being and contribute to the reduction of alcohol related harm. The article recognises the opportunity which arises through wine tourism, to introduce the visitor directly to wine culture and to educate him on how to best appreciate wine in moderation and responsibly, while looking to present activities and sustainable wine tourism business models that place sensible consumption in the design of their visitor experience. The article takes into consideration current consumer, policy and business trends, principles of sustainable business models, design thinking and systems’ theory, and good practices developed in the framework of the 10 years of the Wine in Moderation programme, to understand how to develop a sustainable wine tourism experience and help create and capture value for wineries, local communities and the wider wine tourism ecosystem. Sustainable wine tourism is an opportunity for growth for the wine value chain. Organising better the visiting areas and offering choices to the guest to experience wine responsibly will prove beneficial both for operators and visitors. Co-creation can provide solutions and far more services which visitors would be willing to experience and pay for. In a growing wine tourism market, wineries and related actors should be fit for purpose, creative and open for partnerships. Adapting a systemic approach, transforming and expanding current business model will be necessary to fully capitalise on the potential of more open and sustainable societies and economies.

Os museus do vinho em Portugal: comunicar o passado e compreender e (re)construir a herança cultural vitivinícola

Os museus do vinho são espaços de visitação, “guardiões” de memória e de discursos sobre o passado e o presente vitivinícola das regiões que representam. Mas são também lugares de integração e de interação entre a história, a identidade, espaços de seleção e exclusão, de memórias subjetivas e seletivas. Estes espaços assumem hoje a dupla função e responsabilidade: por um lado, de preservação, divulgação e (re)produção com rigor científico deste património, mas, por outro lado, comprometem-se em torná-lo lúdico, atrativo e pedagógico, adaptado aos públicos a que se destinam. São por isso agentes fundamentais na construção de uma “cultura do Vinho” nas regiões em que se inserem, que não deixa, porém, de ser seletiva. O número de museus vínicos na região do Douro tem crescido exponencialmente. Para um melhor entendimento da cultura do vinho nesta região e da Identidade que é promovida e valorizada através destes espaços, entendeu-se relevante o estudo dos espólios e respetivo discurso dos museus existentes, através da seleção de uma amostragem significativa destes núcleos. Objetivando-se assim com este estudo o entendimento e o contributo do papel destes museus vitivinícolas para a região do Douro. Da análise realizada pode concluir-se que existe alguma seletividade discursiva que valoriza “os notáveis” históricos da terra, cala muitas vezes clivagens sociais, expressa uma religiosidade vincada, evidencia o árduo trabalho da terra e que não raras vezes se centra nos aspetos técnicos de produção da uva e do vinho e na sua evolução. Muitos destes espaços são recentes e outros foram renovados, percebendo-se que a região reconhece e valoriza a sua existência. Constituem, ainda assim e claramente, uma mais valia para estes territórios do Douro, tanto na sua vertente de animação, como na dinamização e afirmação cultural e identitária que vai muito para além da herança vitivinícola da região. São espaços agregadores de um universo cultural que não se basta no vinho e que permite melhor conhecer a região em que se inserem e que valorizam.

Wine labels and consumer culture in the United States

The US has been the world’s largest wine market since 2010 and is the number one country for wine consumption. This general growth in production and consumption reflects a change in the US consumer base, with the rising importance of millennials. To attract all profiles of consumers and be visible, winemakers have to find the right label. It is my contention that the current trends in label designs in the US are oscillating between culture and nature. On the one hand, various trends in label designs are using American popular cultures, reflecting the culture of consumers, commodifying it and often erasing all traces of “classic” wine culture. On the other hand, there is a global development towards the promotion of a more “natural” and “authentic” product. This “back to nature” visual trend values the intrinsic qualities of the wine.

The virtuous cycle of stakeholder engagement in developing a sustainability culture: Salcheto winery

Stakeholder engagement in sustainability represents a powerful driver for value creation. Drawing from stakeholder theory, this paper explores how a firm with a proactive sustainable behaviour engages stakeholders in developing innovation and creating value. A longitudinal, single case study of the Salcheto winery was carried out. Since the late 1990s, Salcheto has been at the forefront of wine eco-innovation and it has played a key role in the development of Montepulciano (Tuscany, Italy) as one of the first sustainable wine clusters worldwide. The development of a sustainable wine culture is one of the firm's various innovations. In doing so, the firm has had to face three challenges - identity creation, legitimization and enhancement - and has engaged its stakeholders through three specific mechanisms (adoption and development; co-creation and diffusion; exploitation and contamination). This virtuous cycle of stakeholder engagement has resulted in value creation at a firm, stakeholder and local level.