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The theory of emergent nature argues that the “right” people have a unique ability to imagine and envision how products might be developed so that they can be successful in the marketplace. The purpose of this paper is to apply this theory to the wine market to evaluate the ability of wine tasters with the “right” profile (i.e. high in emergent nature) to identify benefits applicable to the development of a new wine.

Two sequential studies were performed to collect data: a qualitative study of a sample of 44 professional wine tasters to identify the “right” profile and a quantitative study, with a sample of 1,126 consumers, to assess the value of the benefits proposed by the wine tasters in terms of purchase intention. The validation of the measurement model was carried out using the variance-based partial least squares (PLS) technique.

Two types of wine tasters were identified, normal and “right”. The “right” wine tasters were more and better able to develop arguments for the innovation and market orientation of the wine.

In the context of the wine market, identifying expert wine tasters with the “right” profile is a strategic option to improve innovation and market orientation in the development of commercially viable wines.

This pioneering research validates, in the wine market, a proven methodology used in other markets, which makes it possible to identify expert wine tasters high in emergent nature. These “right” expert tasters identify benefits that can have a decisive effect on purchase intention.

It is intended to explore the use of an interesting research methodology in the relatively unresearched area of wine marketing. The literature on wine marketing is briefly reviewed, wine as a product discussed, the concept of opinion leadership is examined, and the verbal protocol research method explained. The project currently under way will then develop a model of expert wine tasting, confirm and refine it, from which marketing and research implications will be drawn.

The complexity in determining the quality of a credence good like wine increases due to the lack of mandatory ingredient labeling. This has generated a significant information asymmetry in the wine market, leading consumers to delegate their purchase decisions to expert rankings and wine guides. This paper explores whether expert assessments reduce the information asymmetry caused by the absence of ingredient labeling in the wine market.

By employing analysis of variance (ANOVA) in a sample of 304 wines included in the Wine Guide of the Spanish Consumers Organization (OCU), this paper assesses the extent to which expert assessments based on sensory evaluations converge with the objective cues provided by laboratory analysis in wine quality evaluations.

Results reveal a mismatch between expert assessments and laboratory analyses. Chemical aspects such as SO₂ levels or volatile acidity, sensorial factors such as intensity and persistence, and extrinsic variables such as the region of origin or wine type play an important role in the quality ranking of wines.

These findings call for the inclusion of objective intrinsic cues in expert sensory assessments to provide consumers reliable information about wines and to resolve the apparent dissonances in wine quality assessments.

The sensory characteristics of a wine are critical in determining its acceptability, and particularly repeat purchases. Assessments of wines are often made by expert wine tasters, however the use of sensory analysis methods offers an alternative approach that is less reliant on the expertise of one individual. This paper outlines a number of different sensory analysis methods, and gives examples of situations in which the methods might be used. These include the use of triangle tests to evaluate packaging materials, the use of scaling methods to evaluate changes in particular sensory characteristics as a result of changes in processing parameters, the use of sensory profiling to characterise a wine and determine changes that occur during storage, and the use of consumer testing to determine the key sensory characteristics of importance to a particular market segment.

This paper aims to identify the potential conflicts that arise between the actual and the revealed preference of a panel of wine judges when the panel’s evaluation is derived by a linear aggregation of individual scores.

A standard axiomatic social choice theoretical model is used to derive and examine the findings.

The findings show that even with the application of a simple majority rule over the pairwise ranking of wines, preferences may be misrepresented by the ordinal ranking of the wine score aggregation.

A number of wine competitions and reviews, to date, use some form of linear aggregation to represent group preferences. Furthermore, tests surrounding wine judge performance are largely dependent on some underlying true measures usually derived from a linear aggregation. The results imply that care should be taken in these regards.

Expert wine awards are commonly used by consumers to reduce complexity in wine choice but little is known about expert vs non‐expert perceptions of sensory wine quality. This paper aims to examine if expert ratings are suitable quality indicators for consumers and whether there are certain groups of consumers that find expert awards more useful than others.

The paper compares German consumer ratings obtained in a sensory laboratory with German Agricultural Society's quality competition awards. it tests for the correspondence between expert and non‐expert ratings and for the concordance within the non‐expert group. Estimation of a linear mixed model serves to identify consumer‐side variables with an influence on individual rating distance.

Correspondence between expert and non‐experts and concordance within the non‐expert group were found to be insignificant. Experienced wine consumers with sufficient specific knowledge and superior self‐reported sensory skills better replicated expert ratings.

With 216 wine ratings obtained from 36 German consumers, the number of observations is small. Future research should verify above findings by considering more consumers and the stability of ratings across time.

The findings suggest that although some consumer segments may find expert awards to be useful decision cues, for a large portion of the market, there is demand for a more consumer‐orientated system of sensory quality evaluation and labelling.

This paper is the first to address the usefulness of expert ratings to novice and experienced wine consumer populations. The statistical procedures employed (including linear mixed modelling) are shown to be useful techniques to handle the repeated measurement nature of the data.

Champagne is bought with low frequency and many consumers most likely do not have or seek full information on the quality of champagne. Some consumers may rely on the reputation of particular brands, e.g. “Les Grandes Marques”, some consumers choose to gain information from sensory ratings of champagne. The aim of this paper is to analyse the champagne prices on the Scandinavian markets by applying a hedonic price function in a comparative framework with minimal models using sensory ratings.

Consumers optimize the quality–price relationship when buying champagne by seeking only the necessary market information. Within a search model framework, they choose between costless information from sensory ratings and using time for seeking information on the quality attributes of the champagnes. The model is tested on data for the Scandinavian markets in an econometric skeleton.

The retail prices of the champagnes on the Scandinavian markets can be fairly well explained by a hedonic price function. However, the ratings by the wine experts, especially Robert Parker, do just as well in terms of explaining the retail prices of champagnes.

Assuming that sensory ratings by wine experts reflect the true quality of champagne, which is supported by the results in this paper, it hardly pays for normal consumers to use resources on seeking detailed information on champagne quality. Thus, sensory rating is an efficient guide to optimize the quality–price relationship.

Champagne prices are normally analysed using experimental techniques. In our paper, champagne prices are analysed using a search model and tested on market data. Furthermore, the issue on expert ratings vs quality attributes as the optimal price predictor is expanded to the champagne market too.

Attempts to quantify the impact of de‐alcoholized, low and reduced‐alcohol wines on the UK wine market, from their appearance in the late 1980s, to the present day. Also assesses whether makers have been successful with the wines under discussion in their aim to capture a substantial percentage of the total wine market, examining the roles which the consumer and the marketing industry have played in the product and market development, and subsequently the wine's success or failure in attaining its goals. Particularly examines the role marketing may have to play in the future, if these products are to sustain market growth and finally gain acceptability as a purchase in their own right.

This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/EUM0000000001538. When citing the article, please cite: Frances Edwards, Gillian Mort, (1991), “The Expert Wine Taster”, International Marketing Review, Vol. 8 Iss: 4.

This research aims to explore whether quality signals, such as grape variety names explicitly used by “quality wines produced in specified regions”, affect wine retail prices in different ways in large‐scale retail and specialised shops.

Tocai wine, which is produced in Northeastern Italian regions and is involved in a dispute with the Hungarian geographical indication Tokaj, is taken as a case study. A hedonic price model has been estimated based on retail prices observed in local markets.

The research shows that consumers buying at large‐scale retailers are willing to pay a higher price premium for quality signals than those buying in specialised shops, ceteris paribus. For the latter, willingness to pay for quality signals is reduced by the information provided by the specialised shop retailer, which decreases the customer's uncertainty about wine quality; quality signals appearing on wine labels generally have a more relevant positive effect on wine price than brand reputation, confirming the findings available in the current literature.

This paper contributes to the literature by proving, in a real market situation, that consumers are willing to pay a higher price premium for quality signals when information is supplied only by wine labels, as in a large‐scale retail environment, than when it is provided by the assistance of a knowledgeable seller, as in specialised shops. The paper confirms that the information transmitted to the consumer during purchase affects price in a way similar to that reported in the literature for simulated markets in the case of expert consumers.