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Amelia Ceja is the president and CEO of Ceja Vineyards. Amelia grew Ceja Vineyards from a fledgling company producing only 750 cases annually to a well-respected winery, with wines that were served at the inauguration of President Barack Obama and wines that are served at top restaurants all over the world, including the three-Michelin-star restaurant French Laundry. The chapter presents a comprehensive overview of how one woman with a strong vision for success, motivated by perseverance and hard work, used familia, mentorship, customer knowledge, and flexibility as her go-to-market keys to success.

The purpose of this paper is to explore brand innovation practices in small and medium enterprise (SME) wineries to found mid-range theory of brand innovation and to explain the interaction between upstream and downstream brand innovation during brand (re)launch.

This study deploys a qualitative research method. Data was collected through semi-structured telephone interviews with winery owners and managers from 20 German wineries. The approach explored both product and product line brands, organizational brands regarding upstream and downstream innovation and their mutual interaction.

The analyzed wineries provide evidence for up- and downstream brand innovation in the wine industry, thereby confirming previous findings that the wine industry is increasingly driven not only by tradition but also by innovation. The cases demonstrate that upscale SME wineries are able to distinguish between upstream and downstream innovation and integrate them in a meaningful way. Furthermore, the results point to the importance of team knowledge sharing and professional networks for successful upstream brand innovation, as well as social media for downstream brand innovation.

This paper presents a novel mid-range theory of brand innovation in winery SMEs, where resource constraints and a frugal approach to innovation demand for an integrated, hands-on approach.

In this chapter, the author draws on a historical case study of the Australian wine industry to explore variations in collective agency. The inductively derived process model illustrates the emergence of a new profession of scientific winemaking, which unfolds in three phases. Each phase is characterized by a distinct form of agency: distributed agency during the earliest phase, coordinated agency during later phases, and orchestrated agency during consolidation. In addition to exploring the temporal shifts in agency, the study includes a detailed analysis of the early stages of distributed agency, examining how collective agency is achieved in the absence of shared intentions.

This paper examines the late 20th Century emergence of wineries in North Carolina, using the concepts of clusters and industrial policy to explain the dynamics of entrepreneurship in an embryonic industry. Specific attention is paid to how changing resource conditions (available agricultural land and financial capital) interact with an entrepreneurial climate that has fostered individual interest in winemaking to precipitate institutional changes that consolidate cluster formation. Using a model of small business growth in which firms gain credibility through identification with a cluster we trace the success of key wineries in this geographic region.

This introductory chapter provides background information and an organizational structure for the book. The authors begin with a brief history of the research project that undergirds the work presented in each chapter. Drawing from the fields of enology and viticulture, the authors introduce the concepts of terroir, millerandage, and appellations as section headings that help to frame brief descriptions of each chapter. The authors conclude with an invitation for the reader to engage with the authors in a discussion about the contents of the book.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically derive a typology of sustainable business models in the food & beverage (F&B) industry and explore the competitive profiling via sustainability.

Primary data were collected through an online survey for small- and medium-sized wineries (N=125). A principal component analysis (PCA) was used for inducing the F&B sustainable business model typology as an empirical basis for building a conceptual framework.

The analysis has identified seven strategic business models of the German wineries in regards to sustainability. Three models are at the forefront of sustainability, two are characterized by managerial focus on social opportunities and innovation and two of the identified business models are characterized by an administrative approach to social and environmental requirements and therefore rather rudimentary approaches to sustainability.

Main limitations of the study are the focus on wine industry as well as on one country. Furthermore, the deployment of PCA method does not safeguard from neglecting other relevant business models.

Successful business models allow to differentiate in competitive markets in the F&B industry via sustainability. Such models need strategic ambition, positioning and realization but allow to win new clients safeguarding from market squeeze out.

The research facilitates scaling up of sustainability initiatives to the benefit of the wider society.

Business model typology for sustainability has been derived mainly conceptually. The empirically based typology of sustainable business models provides a more rigorous foundation for a transition of business models toward sustainability.

We define diffusion as the spread of something within a social system. Diffusion is the most general and abstract term, and it embraces such processes as contagion, mimicry, social learning, organized dissemination, etc. (Strang & Soule, 1998). While the home territory of diffusion is innovation (see Rogers, 2003 for an authoritative review), more recent macro-diffusion research has developed, based on social movement and institutionalization arguments (Ansari, Fiss, & Zajac, 2010; Wejnert, 2002).

The purpose of this paper is to assess women winemakers’ motivations for and objectives in creating a formal, horizontal, and inter-organizational network in Portugal. To this end, an analysis was carried out of the practical case of a network of women wine producers from some of the main wine regions of Portugal (i.e. D’Uva – Portugal Wine Girls).

Qualitative data analysis was carried out of in-depth semi-structured interviews with seven wine producers and the network manager. The content analysis of interviews was done with QSR International’s NVivo Version 11 software.

The results support the conclusion that the D’Uva – Portugal Wine Girls network promotes the creativity and innovation fundamental to communicating unique features to consumers. These are narrated in a feminine, cohesive, and united voice and supported by a passion for winemaking. The network is open to adding other women producers, which could contribute to its growth and further sharing of knowledge, contacts, and experiences.

The findings provide a better understanding of the processes of internationalization and networking among women winemakers in Portugal.

The benefits of this network in terms of relationships were examined, showing that the stimulation of better performance and the effects of antecedents were important in the creation and formalization of the network.

This research sought to contribute to the literature on female entrepreneurship and, more specifically, networks of entrepreneurial women. The findings stress that, through the formalization of networks, women can gain more advantages, namely, sharing knowledge and experiences, increasing their level of internationalization, and expanding their networks.

This paper aims to examine the purposive strategy behind the growth of cult wines in Napa California since the 1980s. By leveraging the growing wine reputation of the region, a small number of new owners used extensive financial resources from other ventures to make a finely crafted, high-priced wine, in small quantities and sold through restricted distribution channels. Their aim was to compete with Bordeaux first-growths and create wine that would evoke the luxury connotations of craft, heritage, reputation and exclusivity. Because they were new, they relied upon experts to rate their wine, thus creating instant legitimacy with high scores and appealing to a small group of wealthy wine enthusiasts, many of whom were insecure in their knowledge of high-quality wines.

Semi-structured in-depth interviews with a sample of 13 cult winery owners, wine makers and a CEO were utilized in addition to descriptive statistics and secondary historical information drawn from public records.

Certain Napa producers have created iconic wines through purposeful behavior and extensive resources that are rare and difficult to imitate. Their success is also a function of positive accolades by influential wine critics whose scoring sanctioned their status as a luxury good. High prices and limited availability further manufactured the scarcity element that is crucial to maintaining demand for high-status goods.

This study examines the interface between supply of a product, external validation that legitimized it and a small but significant market of wealthy individuals who created the demand for it. This mosaic behind market creation reveals how successful producers have been in realizing the multidimensionality of luxury goods.