The interest in wine produced in an environmentally friendly manner is increasing in the global market among both consumers and producers. Moreover, numerous labelling and certification systems have been introduced to guarantee environmentally friendly production. Consumers can consider some environmental attributes in relation to their purchasing decisions as components of their ethical demands; such consumer behaviours can drive wine production to more sustainable models. This change depends on many factors, such as consumers’ willingness to pay for sustainable and ethical attributes and the effective communication of such attributes. Among consumers, young people belonging to the so-called millennial generation are the new wine consumers, and they represent an increasingly important segment of the global wine market. This study uses a choice experiment to investigate Italian millennials’ preferences toward two ethical attributes of wine: ‘carbon footprint claim’ and ‘winescape aesthetic’. The findings show considerable heterogeneity among respondents, the majority of whom seem to be interested in the carbon footprint claim, even if a group of them prefer to pay a premium price to consume high-quality wines. Our results indicate that winescape aesthetic does not appear to be an important attribute in guiding respondents’ preferences.

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the wine consumption among young people belonging to the so-called millennial generationDesign/methodology/approach: This study uses a questionnaire and a choice experiment (CE) with a multinomial logit model (MNL), implementing a random parameter logit model (RPL), to investigate the attitudes of millennials towards wine consumption, their purchasing behaviours and their willingness to pay for attributes of the products; in particular regarding the follwing: region of origin, “winescape”, certification, carbon footprint claim and price.Findings: Millennials appear to drink wine less frequently; they consume it more often in social on-premise settings, having a slightly higher willingness to pay and preferring carbon-neutral brands when choosing wine.Research limitations/implications: The limitation of this research was the analysis of a simulated situation where consumers declared their intention to purchase and not the effective purchase behaviour in the market.Further research should investigate wider millennials groups, also using the new media communication tools that characterise the communication behaviour of Generation Y. In this way, it would be possible to interview a millennial group at the national or international level.Practical implications: The research identifies some characteristics of millennials’ habits that can take into account the strategies of wine companies in order to develop a constructive relationship with Generation Y in Italy.Social implications: This research contributes to knowledge regarding the wine consumption habits of Italian millennials.Originality/value: This paper applies discrete choice models to consumption situations in order to analyse millennials' preference and their willingness to pay for some innovative attributes of wine, in particular the carbon footprint.

Increasing awareness of sustainability in the agri-food sector is leading to a gradual transition toward lower-impact farming systems, such as organic and biodynamic farming. The environmental performance of organic wines has largely been compared to that of conventional wines, and few researchers have investigated the differences between organic and biodynamic wine production from an environmental point of view. Therefore, in this study, the environmental profiles of two organic and two biodynamic wines produced in two areas in Northeast Italy were assessed by performing a “cradle-to-gate” analysis according to the life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. Results were used both to compare organic and biodynamic vitiviniculture and to draw overall conclusions on the environmental performance of each of the analyzed wines in order to identify environmental hotspots and provide recommendations to stakeholders. Production of the glass bottles was identified as the main source of environmental burden in all four systems, followed either by the production and use of fertilizers and pesticides, or the use of agricultural machinery. Results also showed that biodynamic wines seem to be responsible for lesser environmental impacts than organic ones.