This paper examines the strong version of the law of one price (LOOP) on the auction market for fine wine. We draw on worldwide auction prices from eight auction houses,¹covering the time period from 2000 to 2012. Employing a hedonic approach, we find significant price premiums in particular in Hong Kong and between auction companies (independent of their locations). The price premiums by far exceed the expected transaction costs, casting doubt on the existence of the strong version of LOOP in the fine wine market. Our results suggest that heterogeneity in buyer preferences may crucially contribute to the observed price dispersion. In particular, although wines suspected of being counterfeits are sold at discounts in Western markets, they fetch price premiums in Hong Kong. (JEL Classifications: Q14, G11)

This article documents how the COVID-19 crisis has affected the drinking behavior of Latin European wine consumers. Using a large online survey conducted during the first lockdown in France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain (n = 7,324 individuals), we reconstruct the purchasing and consumption patterns of the respondents. The number of people who maintained their wine consumption frequency is significantly higher than those who increased or decreased their consumption. Wine consumption frequency held up better than other types of alcohol (beer and spirits). We analyze heterogeneities among countries and individuals by employing the Marascuilo procedure and an ordered logit model. The latter identifies the impact of demographic, commercial, and psychosocial factors on wine consumption frequency. The results shed light on changes in wine consumer behavior during the first lockdown and consider possible post-lockdown trends that could be useful to industry players. (JEL Classifications: D5, L66, Q1)

In this paper we provide a simple and transparent non parametric methodology to express the scores of each wine expert on the same rating scale. We discuss the advantage of this methodology over a linear transformation. The non-paramatric method ensures the comparability of scores among experts and allows for a relevant average calculation of available wine scores. (JEL Classifications: Q13, L15, C14).

In this article, we analyze the impact of varying exchange rates on French wine exports using a dynamic Armington panel model for the time period from 2000 to 2011. Our results suggest that French wines have become less competitive during the 2000s. This is due to two factors: rising domestic wine prices relative to foreign competitors and the appreciation of the euro against the USD and the GBP. Chinese demand appears to be a key driver of French wine exports. In addition, we find some compositional effects in Bordeaux wine exports. In response to the appreciation of the euro, the share of high-priced wines has increased, suggesting some degree of quality sorting in response to exchange-rate changes. (JEL Classification: F14, F31, Q17)

The COVID‐19 crisis has severely impacted the wine industry, with producers in different countries affected differently and, therefore, differing in their perceptions toward it. These differing perceptions are assumed to be due to different business models, mainly linked to the distribution system adopted and resulting in varying distances of producers to distributors and consumers. While upstream integration characterizes the Old World, the New World applies a downstream business model, being more closely linked to distributors and consumers and, therefore, more vulnerable to shocks, which should lead to higher perceived impacts of the COVID‐19 crisis. This study analyzes 542 surveys collected from wineries in nine countries, divided into New World, historical Old World, and emerging Old World. Econometric results show statistically significant differences in both the perceived impact of COVID‐19 and wineries' responses in terms of planned investments, with the New World being more affected. A common desire by wineries to direct future investments towards direct‐to‐consumer sales and communication was found, to the detriment of investments in vineyards and cellars. This desire is particularly strong in the New World, in line with their focus on the downstream part of the value chain, underlying their greater reactivity to shocks and capacity to innovate. [EconLit Citations: D22; L21; L66; Q13].