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JWE Volume 13 | 2018 | No. 3

Journal of Wine Economics Volume 13 | 2018 | No. 3

Introduction to the Issue: Wine Cooperatives

Karl Storchmann
Pages: 239-242
Full Text PDF
Introduction

This issue of the Journal of Wine Economics is devoted to wine cooperatives and centers around a symposium entitled “Organization and Performance of Cooperative Firms in the Wine Sector” and guest-edited by Günter Schamel. The symposium draws from an AAWE workshop organized by Günter Schamel and held at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano in June 2017. We augmented this sym- posium with an additional research paper and various field reports from managers of successful wine cooperatives in Austria, Germany, and Italy.

The cooperative movement began in the early 19th century, primarily in the United Kingdom and in France, in order to bundle the purchasing power or produc- tive ability of many small members. In general, “A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically con- trolled enterprise” (International Co-Operative Alliance, 2018).

Although producer cooperatives were not limited to agricultural production, they have played a preeminent role in agricultural production. For instance, in the United States, dairy co-ops handle more than 80% of the national milk supply (USDA, 2017). Cooperatives play a dominant role on the European market as well (see Figure 1). However, and in contrast to the United States, where wine co-ops are vir- tually absent from the market (USDA, 2017), European wine cooperatives look back to a long history1 and currently produce approximately 42% of all European wine.

Figure 2 shows the level and the wide range of national wine cooperative shares among European Union wine-producing countries. With 70%, Spain exhibits the highest wine cooperative share in Europe. However, the other two large wine produc- ers, France and Italy, do not follow far behind. Outside of Europe, cooperative win- eries play a significant, but somewhat smaller role in South Africa and in Argentina (Karlson and Karlson, 2015).

Despite their large market share, one of the main issues for cooperative wineries is their, on average, low profitability. Many cooperatives bottle only a small part of their production and sell a significant part in bulk at low prices. This is particularly true in Spain. In a study for the European Commission, Bijman et al. (2012) report that “most of the top-5 wine cooperatives in France, Italy, and Germany view marketing branded wine as their major goal” (Bijman et al., 2012, p. 48). However, only one out of the top five Spanish cooperatives sells branded wine.
This special issue of the Journal of Wine Economics opens with some insights from the business side entitled “Successful Wine Cooperatives: Field Reports from Cooperative Managers in Austria, Italy, and Germany” (Aiassa et al., 2018). The managing directors of the following cooperative wineries shed some light on the history, organization, and incentive structure of their cooperatives.2

Domäne Wachau, Wachau, Austria (Roman Horvath and Heinz Frischengruber) Kellerei-Cantina Tramin, Alto Adige, Italy (Wolfgang Klotz)
Terre dei Santi, Piedmont, Italy (Paolo Aiassa)
Produttori del Barbaresco, Piedmont, Italy (Aldo Vacca)

Durbacher Winzergenossenschaft, Baden, Germany (Stephan Danner) Winzergenossenschaft Mayschoß-Altenahr, Ahr, Germany (Matthias Baltes)

Despite many differences among these six wineries, there are also various common characteristics that might have been crucial for their success. First, being able to sell bottled wine under the cooperative’s brand name appears to be an important deter- minant (or indicator) of success; none of the six “Field Report wineries” sell bulk wine. Second, in order to avoid any moral hazard, where member growers only deliver inferior quality to the cooperative and sell their high-quality fruit on the market, members are required to deliver their entire production to the cooperative. Third, the cooperative influences the production process already in the vineyard by setting rules, conducting regular check-ups, and/or offer training sessions. Fourth, all successful cooperatives pay above-average prices to their growers.

This issue continues with Günter Schamel’s “Guest Editor’s Introduction to the Symposium: Organization and Performance of Cooperative Firms in the Wine Sector (Schamel, 2018). The first paper of this symposium, entitled “Organizational Form and Payoff Imbalances in an Aggrievement Model: Cooperatives versus Privately Owned Wineries” is by Francisco J. Santos-Arteaga and Günter Schamel (Santos-Arteaga and Schamel, 2018). The authors develop a theoretical model and show how integrated cooperatives and non-integrated private firms may coexist in a coordinated equilibrium. Their model also suggests that an integrated cooperative is able to obtain a higher social surplus than a non-integrated private winery.

In the second paper of the cooperative symposium, Patrizia Fanasch and Bernd Frick analyze “What Makes Cooperatives Successful? Identifying the Determinants of Their Organizational Performance” (Fanasch and Frick, 2018). Drawing on whether a cooperative is listed in at least one of two leading wine guides (Gault Millau and Falstaff) as a measure of quality, the authors show that, due to certain management characteristics, older and larger cooperatives have a significantly higher likelihood of being listed.

Julien Cadot and Adeline Alonso Ugaglia examine “The Key Role of Banks in the Lifecycle of Bordeaux Wine Cooperatives” (Cadot and Alonso Ugaglia, 2018) and highlight the potential trade-off between member incomes and the life expectancy of a cooperative. The authors show that bank lending regimes are dependent on a coop- erative’s downstream strategy (i.e., sell in bulk, joining a federation of cooperatives, or vertical integration) and, therefore, influence its survival.

We augment the symposium with a paper entitled “Cooperatives versus Corporations: Survival in the French Wine Industry” by Justine Valette, Paul Amadieu, and Patrick Sentis (Valette, Amadieu, and Sentis, 2018). The authors find that French wine cooperatives survive longer than corporations, even when con- trolling for mergers and acquisitions. The higher survival rate of wine cooperatives seems to be due to cooperatives’ higher ability to pass adverse business environments on to their members.

1 The first wine cooperative, Winzerverein Mayschoß, which is still in existence was established in 1868 in the Ahr region of Germany.

2 These reports could not have been compiled without the help of numerous people who helped with pro- curing, translating, and/or editing them. I am particularly indebted to Alessandro Corsi (University of Torino, Italy), Patrizia Fanasch (University of Paderborn, Germany), Simonetta Mazzarino (University of Torino, Italy), and Günter Schamel (Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy).

Karl Storchmann
New York University

Successful Wine Cooperatives: Field Reports from Cooperative Managers in Austria, Italy, and Germany

Paolo Aiassa, Matthias Baltes, Stephan Danner, Heinz Frischengruber, Roman Horvath, Wolfgang Klotz & Aldo Vacca
Pages: 243-259
Full Text PDF
Excerpt

Austria has a quite small cooperative sector, only about 10 to 15% of all Austrian wine is produced by wine cooperatives. The first wine cooperative was established in 1882 (Eisenstadt-Ruster-Weinproduzentenverein). An intense wave of cooperative establishment took place in Austria and Germany at the beginning of the 20th century, lasting through the 1960s, that was due to the unfortunate general socio-eco- nomic situation of vintners…READ MORE

Guest Editor

INTRODUCTION TO THE SYMPOSIUM: Organization and Performance of Cooperative Firms in the Wine Sector

Günter Schamel
Pages: 260-262
Full Text PDF
Excerpt

This issue of the Journal of Wine Economics is devoted to cooperative wine produc- ers. Cooperatives play a very important role in many countries even though they are not as visible in the wine market. In Italy, about 50% of all wine is produced by coop- eratives (Mazzarino and Corsi, 2015). About 30% of German vineyards are farmed by members of wine cooperatives (DRV, 2016). In France, almost two-thirds of all grape growers belong to a wine cooperative and in the Americas, Argentinian wine cooperatives represent more than 20% of total production (Karlsson and Karlsson, 2015)…READ MORE

SYMPOSIUM: Organization and Performance of Cooperative Firms in the Wine Sector | Organizational Form and Payoff Imbalances in an Aggrievement Model Cooperatives versus Privately Owned Wineries

Francisco J. Santos-Arteaga & Günter Schamel
Pages: 263-281
Abstract

We build on Hart and Holmstrom (2010) to analyze the strategic choice of organizational form among wine producers. They claim that a firm’s organizational form, when agreed upon com- petitively, conditions the sense of entitlement of the involved parties. The sense of entitlement determines their feeling of grievance for the outcome of the contract and, if so, their shading efforts by partially withholding consummate performance, creating deadweight losses. We consider two main organizational forms: non-integration, where growers interact in the wine- making process and can highlight the quality of their individual contributions, and integration, where individual contributions to the process may not be explicitly acknowledged and the winemaker cannot exert quality control over the production chain. We present a formal coor- dination model that illustrates how cooperatives and private firms can coexist within a market. Furthermore, given the reasonable parameter constraints, it illustrates how an integrated cooperative can obtain a higher social surplus than a non-integrated private firm.

SYMPOSIUM: Organization and Performance of Cooperative Firms in the Wine Sector | What Makes Cooperatives Successful? Identifying the Determinants of Their Organizational Performance

Patrizia Fanasch & Bernd Frick
Pages: 282-308
Abstract

In comparison with other organizational forms, cooperatives have been found to offer poor product quality and suffer from low reputation. The main reasons discussed in the literature are information asymmetries, which leads to adverse selection and moral hazard, as well as the absence of profit orientation due to poorly specified and diluted property rights. However, although, in reality, many cooperatives indeed perform poorly, and some are appar- ently able to completely avoid or at least reduce the problems that are considered prototypical for this hybrid organizational form. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify the characteristics required to reduce the problems resulting from poorly specified property rights and information asymmetries and, hence, to successfully compete in the market. The data we use to identify the characteristics that separate “good” and “bad” cooperatives encompass 136 organizations in Austria, Germany, and northern Italy. Our logistic regression estimations show that older and larger cooperatives (in terms of acreage) have a significantly higher probability to be listed in at least one of two highly respected wine guides. Moreover, German cooperatives have a significantly lower probability of being listed than either Austrian or northern Italian cooperatives. The findings suggest that differences in performance can be explained by the management of cooperatives.

SYMPOSIUM: Organization and Performance of Cooperative Firms in the Wine Sector | The Key Role of Banks in the Lifecycle of Bordeaux Wine Cooperatives

Julien Cadot & Adeline Alonso Ugaglia
Pages: 309-327
Abstract

In this article, we investigate a possible conflict between two core objectives of cooperatives, members’ income, and continuity, by examining the link between debt and the price paid to producers for Bordeaux wine cooperatives, according to their downstream strategies: (1) the traditional strategy, which is to sell wine in bulk to négociants; (2) joining a federation of coop- eratives which blends and puts the wine in the retail market; and (3) vertical integration. We show that downstream strategies are related to different lending regimes, making the relationship between banks and cooperatives a key issue for the lifecycle of cooperatives.

Cooperatives versus Corporations: Survival in the French Wine Industry

Justine Valette, Paul Amadieu & Patrick Sentis
Pages: 328-354
Abstract

This article examines the survival rates of cooperatives in the French wine industry. Traditional theory claims that cooperatives are inefficient and consequently are prone to failure, but recent literature suggests a higher resilience. Can cooperatives cope better? We find that French wine cooperatives survive longer than corporations. This result is robust in semi-parametric and parametric models, even when we control for mergers and acquisitions. The higher survival rate of wine cooperatives seems to be associated with their ability to pass changes in their business environments on to their members.

Book & Film Reviews

Rosé: Understanding the Pink Wine Revolution

By: Elizabeth Gabay
Reviewer: Jacob R. Straus
Pages: 355-358
Full Text PDF
Book Review

Rosé is experiencing an identity crisis. Is it a unique wine defined by color or is it an amalgamation of its better known red and white cousins? The answer to this question largely depends on wine region, wine maker, and grapes used. In her new book, Rosé: Understanding the Pink Wine Revolution, Elizabeth Gabay (MW) provides a thoughtful, comprehensive analysis of rosé’s history and variations around the world. Gabay also delivers an approachable consumer’s guide to various wine regions, style, and selected producers. While this might seem like a lot of ground to cover in a single volume, she has successfully balanced the technical aspects of rosé, including the importance of terroir, with practical knowledge that could assist both experienced and novice wine drinkers choose a rosé as their next bottle of wine.

Gabay begins by focusing on how rosé is a different type of wine, while also high- lighting how it shares many characteristics with other styles. She establishes that for many, rosé is historically linked with clairet—a light red wine designed to be con- sumed sooner, rather than later. This association exists because since at least the mid-1600s, clairet has been described as “rubis orientalis (the red of the setting sun), oeil de perdrix (the pale pin of the eye of a dying partridge) and hyacinth pink, tending toward orange” (p. 6).

In the United States, rosé is often synonymous with white zinfandel. Bob Trinchero, of Sutter Home Winery, is credited (or blamed) with creating the sweet style of white Zinfandel—many American’s first experience with rosé. Mr. Trinchero started pro- ducing a pink wine from Zinfandel grapes in the early 1970s as a way to increase the concentration of his premium red wines. These wines were “tinged with pink” from the bleeding off of some grape juice before fermentation. While not initially sweet, in 1975, “the white Zinfandel experienced ‘stuck fermentation,’ a problem that occurs when the yeast dies before consuming all the sugar” (p. 108). In what turned out to be a happy error, Mr. Trinchero liked this sweet, pink wine better than the pale, pink wine he had been selling. White Zinfandel was born.

While rosé might be historically a subset of other wines (clairet) or a sweet mistake (white Zinfandel), today it has become its own style defined by its color, economics, and marketing. In fact, for many, rosé is distinct from clairet or white Zinfandel, with French rosé, especially light, pale wines from Provence considered be the gold-stan- dard of pink wines and among the few that can be drunk immediately, or aged (pp. 289–290).

More than any other characteristic, color sets rosé apart from red and white wines. A rosé’s color has traditionally varied by wine region and style of grapes used. Overall, color can range from “bluish pink, dark pink red, orange, tawny pink, bright pint to a clear pink” (p. 26). For example, Provence rosé’s are made using “rel- atively light-pigmented varieties” of Grenache, Cinsault, and Tibouren, which produce pale wines that could “technically, be labelled vin gris or blanc de noir,” because of their color (p. 73). These pale wine stand in contrast to darker Bordeaux clairets (p. 92) or wines made in Australia, which are darker pink because of the predominance of Shiraz and Grenache (p. 133).

How a producer chooses to bottle rosé reflects the importance of color. Traditionally, rosé has been packaged in bottles typical to the wine region. In other words, rosé produced in Bordeaux has traditionally been bottled in standard Bordeaux bottles and Burgundy rosé in Burgundy bottles. Provence rosé has been the exception, with the region known “for using innovative bottle shapes … [which] often … make their wines stand out” (p. 291). Gabay further highlights some more unusual bottle shapes, including square bottles and packaging rosé in alternative containers, including cans and boxes (p. 295), as examples of rose producers trying to market their wines.

While bottle shape can be a distinguishing factor, rosé producers also want to highlight the wine’s color. Consumers often buy with their eyes. To encourage pur- chases, producers work to establish a brand and convince potential purchasers to buy their wines over others (Orth and Crouch, 2014). While labels continue to be a popular way to distinguish wines (Lecoq and Visser, 2006), for rosé, the bottle is also essential. As Gabay demonstrates, “most rosé is sold in colourless glass bottles, with the colour of the wine easily visible” (p. 294). Clear bottles, however, are “not good for rosé wine because the UV light breaks down the color and the wines turn brown” (p. 294).

The balance between being able to see the wine and protect it from UV light steers Gabay’s inquiry toward whether rosé can, and should, be aged, instead of drunk as young wine. The results here are mixed, as some producers have been creating more complex rosé’s that are designed to be aged, while others maintain the more tradi- tional style of creating rosé for more immediate consumption. Use of clear bottles certainly favors more immediate consumption, while other bottle colors (e.g., brown, green) can more easily promote aging.

As with many consumable products, and certainly other types of wine, economics plays a significant role with the success (or failure) of rosé wine. More than just the consumer price point, the economics of rosé can allow producers to realize a faster return on investment. In an easy to access and compelling example, Gabay shows how producers might balance the production of red wine and rosé by explaining that it might take several years to get a red wine to market (after it is fermented and aged) and to recoup costs of production, but rosé wines might be harvested in the fall and put on sale the following January, a much shorter time period (p. 300). This is not a part of the wine making cycle that consumers generally con- sider, but is an essential part of wine economics that could determine whether to produce rosé at all, and then in what quantity.

Once a product is produced, it is time to sell it. How to sell pink wine has been a challenge in some markets. Many media outlets have highlighted that rosé wines are the choice of millennials, women, and summer. These types of marketing tools have allowed rosé to expand its footprint and sell in markets that have traditionally been more difficult to access. Focus on these groups, however, has caused rosé to be seen as “girly,” while at the same time, news articles “regularly feel the need to affirm the presence of men as rosé drinkers, as if they—men—need to justify their drinking a pink wine” (p. 283). Labeling a whole class of wine for one gender over another is, of course, not fair, and Gabay rightly calls out this type of marketing, showing instead that rosé is consumed by everyone, all over the world.

In Rosé: Understanding the Pink Wine Revolution, Elizabeth Gabay successfully demonstrates that rosé wine can be made anywhere, from almost any type ofgrapes. Subsequently, different regions have created distinct pink wine styles that are suited to various purposes. France, Spain, the United States, and Australia have tra- ditionally driven the rosé marketplace (p. 306), but other, emerging regions are sure to produce interesting and approachable wines in the future.

Jacob R. Straus
University of Maryland Baltimore County, Shady Grove
jstraus@umbc.edu
doi:10.1017/jwe.2018.44

Champagne: The Essential Guide to the Wines, Producers, and Terroirs of the Iconic Region

By: Peter Liem
Reviewer: Neal D. Hulkower
Pages: 358-361
Full Text PDF
Book Review

Sorry Sinatra, but I do get a kick from champagne.1 Since discovering grower cham- pagnes earlier this century and especially after visiting the Champagne region in 2016, I have kept a small stash as an essential part of my collection to enjoy with food as I would a still wine. But as much as my appreciation for this marvelous bev- erage has increased, it is as pale as club soda next to Peter Liem’s, which is more like an intricately colored brut rosé. Liem’s admiration is manifest throughout his mul- tiple award winning volume which deftly negotiates the line between a popular account and a scholarly exposition of France’s most celebrated sparkling wine.

A 1979 Salon Liem tasted in 1996 “pushed the boundaries of what I thought champagne could be…” (p. 1). As a wine critic for Wine & Spirit, he was able to increase his exposure and knowledge but moved full time to Champagne to completely immerse himself in the region. He began ChampagneGuide.net in 2009 and wrote his book “to provide a context for understanding the wine … [since] [w]ine without context becomes a beverage reduced to mere flavors” (p. 2). In 2014, he cofounded La Fête du Champagne, a celebration of some of the best products from the region, which has been held in New York City and London. He now splits his time between New York City and Épernay.

The book comprises three parts: Understanding Champagne, The Place, and The People. The first chapter, “The Primacy of Place,” establishes Liem as a staunch ter- roirist. He observes: “Over the past century, champagne has been marketed much more by brand than by place. While this has contributed to unprecedented global success, it’s also de-emphasized the concept of champagne as a wine…” (p. 12). But now more attention is being paid to where the grapes grow and how they are vinified. He concludes that this “… all relate[s] back to the idea that champagne, as a fine wine, should be subject to the same scrutiny … as any other” (p. 12).

Chapter II, “A History,” covers the period from the 5th or 6th century, when vines first appeared in Champagne, through the present. Until the 17th century, only still wines were made in Champagne and these were known by the villages they came from and not as champagne. For example, as early as the 11th century, the wines of Aÿ were favored by royalty and are still highly regarded today. Liem cites the lack of mention of sparkling wine in a text by Frère Pierre, a student and successor of Dom Pérignon, as evidence that he never made any. The discussion of the origin of sparkling champagne which takes us across the English Channel is revelatory. We are told: “Even if the French had wanted to make wine sparkle, they didn’t have the tech- nology” (p. 24), especially strong glass bottles and corks, that the English did, thus, enabling them to likely become the first to purposely make sparkling champagne.

The birth of the first two waves of larger champagne houses beginning in 1729 with the founding of Ruinart is chronicled in two lists (pp. 26–27, 30). Most are still thriv- ing. In contrast, Liem includes a timeline of site-specific champagnes (pp. 40–41) beginning with his first love, Salon, the first vintage of which was in 1905, and con- tinuing through 2008 during which time grower champagnes and single-vineyard bottlings gained prominence. In reaction to the use of questionable chemicals in the vineyards, we learn “The movement toward organic and sustainable viticulture that is so prevalent today began planting its roots among a new generation of wine- growers who took over estates in the 1980s or 1990s” (p. 39). Furthermore, Liem writes: “Somewhere in the latter half of the twentieth century, champagne became a wine of process rather than place, and the Champenois today are rectifying this error and rediscovering the identities of their vineyards” (p. 39).

Chapter III walks us through the process of making champagne from harvest through aging in the bottle. At each step, Liem intersperses quotations from prom- inent producers with his opinion of various elements involved such as cultured and indigenous yeasts and fermentation vessels. For those in need of guidance, there is a two-page discussion on storing and serving champagne (pp. 64–65), including advice on pairings.

Chapter IV, “Old Soils, New Farming,” ends the first part and sets the stage for the second, “Place.” A brief discussion of the region’s climate (“In general, it’s often like the Pacific Northwest of the United States,” (p. 69) he suggests) precedes sections on the soil, the cycle of the vine, modern farming, and quality farming. While acknowl- edging the contributions to the region’s terroir from weather, grape varieties and latitude, although curiously not cultural components including viticulture and wine- making practices as recognized in the Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin (OIV) definition, Liem asserts that “Champagne’s famously chalky soils … [are] the real foundation of the wine’s identity” (p. 70).

Most champagnes are made from Pinot noir, Meunier, or Chardonnay either indi- vidually or blended. There are also four other white grape varieties, Arbanne, Pinot blanc, Pinot gris (or Fromenteau), and Petit meslier, that are permitted along with “a handful of other grandfathered varieties no longer authorized …, such as gros plant and various teinturier grapes” (p. 244). The latter have red skins and red pulp. Liem and I recommend seeking out the rare bottling, such as Leherte Frère Les 7, that includes all seven varieties.

Liem bemoans the abuse of the vineyard land in Champagne since the end of WWII that included using city garbage as mulch. “Even today, much of the vineyard land in Champagne looks unhealthy, and in the worst cases, disturbingly lunarlike” (p. 81), he laments. Indeed, during my visit to Leherte Frère, there was a stark dif- ference between their biodynamically farmed vineyard and the neighbor’s.

The second and longest part consists of eight chapters, the first of which intro- duces the various regions and villages of Champagne. Included with the book is a set of seven maps originally published in 1944 by Louis Larmat. They are exquisitely detailed and would look impressive framed and hung in a large cellar. Says Liem: “The Larmat maps aren’t a perfect resource” (p. 93). “Despite [the] limitations … these maps have proved invaluable, and they have changed the way that I view the landscape of Champagne” (p. 94). The remaining seven chapters cover each region in extraordinary detail and include more up-to-date maps. Liem challenges some of the boundaries of growing areas based on terroir differences. For example, he con- tends that Coteaux Sud d’Épernay which is generally considered part of the Vallée de la Marne should be regarded as a separate region because of “a greater diversity of soil types, exposures, and grape varieties” (p. 168). At the end of each of the seven chapters, notable single-cru and single-vineyard wines are listed for each region by village, a great resource for anyone in search of a unique bottle.

Part Three consists of a single chapter, “Producers of Champagne.” “Rather than creating a comprehensive directory of champagne producers, I’ve selected négociant houses and grower estates … that I consider to have contributed to illuminating issues of terroir …” (p. 211), Liem explains. In addition to some of the big houses such as the venerable Louis Roederer, owner of the largest amount of biodynamically farmed land in Champagne, we are introduced to Leclerc-Briant, a resurgent pro- ducer, whose winemaker, Hervé Jestin, is redefining biodynamics in not always a comprehendible way, but whom Liem nevertheless regards as one of the best in Champagne.

Because of the unavoidable redundancy in describing the small number of soil types, grape varieties, and champagne styles, flavors and impressions, this part can be tiresome to read straight through. Instead, it should serve as a singular expert’s guide to what to look for when shopping. For each producer, he includes recommen- dations for specific labels along with one to four dollar signs to indicate prices less than $60, $60–$100, $100–$200, and more than $200. I have found consistently deli- cious grower champagne for as little as $35 and rarely need to exceed $75 to get something memorable.

While Liem’s writing makes the reading comfortable, the layout of the book can be sidetracking with single and multi-page inserts covering special topics breaking up the flow of the text sometimes in mid-sentence. Additionally, with notes for the first two parts in the back of the book, one frequently has to turn back and forth. Since there is ample room in the margins, it would have been more reader-friendly to set the notes there. Except for portraits of producers the captions for which are in the margins of facing pages, there is no indication of what the other photos that beautifully illustrate the book show. It would be nice to know, for instance, what I am looking at on pp. 142–143 and pp. 232–233. On the other hand, the 12-page glos- sary, bibliography, and 6-page, 3-column index are useful resources, especially for the novice.

Champagne is a significant work by someone who has thoroughly immersed himself into the land and culture of the region while still maintaining an independent perspective. Because of the range and depth of its coverage, the book should be of interest to collectors in search of the best producers and, although only village- level locations and not specific addresses are provided, to wine tourists planning a trip to the region. In other words, if unlike Frank, you get a kick from champagne or want to, you might get one from Champagne as well.

1 We adopt Liem’s naming convention of calling the region Champagne and the wine champagne.

Neal D. Hulkower
McMinnville, OR
nhulkower@yahoo.com
doi:10.1017/jwe.2018.45

Wines of Japan. A Comprehensive Guide to the Wines and Wineries of Japan

By: Teiji Takahashi, Kimie Harada, Kazuhiko Kobayashi & Hiroshi Saito
Reviewer: Hal Hill
Pages: 361-364
Full Text PDF
Book Review

The authors of this engaging and informative bilingual volume open with the state- ment “[y]ou may think it unlikely that a quality wine can be produced in Japan. … You are however advised to update your world map of wine … Japan has a history of about … 150 years of making wine” (p. 5).

This observation sets the scene for a book which had its origins in a conference at the University of Tokyo in 2011, and is the first serious publication of its type in English. Historically Japan’s wine industry was very small. It dates from the start of the Meiji era in 1868, when the government first encouraged its production. But until recently wine was relatively unimportant in Japanese drinking and cuisine. In fact, wine was considered unsuitable for its cuisine. Moreover, the country’s soils are pre- dominantly volcanic ash. Rainfall is typically heavy during the flowering period, especially in June, while typhoons are common during the maturation month of September. In addition, summers are hot and humid, creating problems with fungal disease. As the authors put it, wine was considered a “classy” drink, reserved for special occasions. All this was based on the widespread view that the Asian monsoon region (not just Japan) would always produce its alcoholic drinks made from starches in rice and other grains.

Things began to slowly change in the 1960s. As Japan became rich and more global, and as international tourism expanded, there was a growing interest in wine. Several pioneering winemakers studied and lived abroad, principally in France and the United States, and they began to experiment with domestic produc- tion. These winemakers began to enter their wines in international shows, and in time received recognition for their efforts.

However, the authors emphasize that the industry is still, in some respects, in its infancy. It may not be widely understood that most wine “produced” in Japan is, in fact, made from imported grape juice or concentrate. These are the major bever- age companies, with factories in Japan’s main port cities. Only about 18–19% of the total is made from grapes grown in Japan. The country will probably always be a net wine importer. About 70% of wine consumed is imported. The country is not, and may never be, a significant wine exporter, and its wines are not commonly found abroad. In addition, Japanese wine consumption is relatively low compared to most high-income countries, just 3.3 litres per adult per year.

Nevertheless, the authors clearly demonstrate that things are on the move. Wine is becoming increasingly popular. In October 2015, the first official labeling regulations were introduced, requiring that only wine produced from locally grown grapes could be termed “Japan Wine.” A system of Geographical Indications (GIs) has been intro- duced, and is gradually spreading across the country. Wine imports were liberalized as far back as 1970, and the foreign competition is forcing the local industry to lift its quality. Accompanying these changes has been the growth of wine tourism and culinary innovation in the major wine areas, especially those renowned for their scenic beauty.

One of the most interesting features of the book is the survey of the major wine producing regions and winemakers, including interviews with the owners of more than 40 wineries. This constitutes six of the seven main chapters. The authors care- fully document the continuous experimentation with grape varieties, regions, sites, horticultural practices, and vinification technologies. Gradually some patterns are clearly emerging. The industry is expanding mainly in the east and north of the country, in the higher altitude regions of the main island of Honshu, and in the northern island of Hokkaido. A variety of European grape varieties that tolerate wet climates have been introduced, with mixed success. Merlot and chardonnay appear to have adapted better than most. But the major success story to date has been the white grape variety known as “koshu.” This is, in fact, an indigenous variety that has existed in Japan for centuries, mainly in the country’s major wine producing region, Yamanashi. This region, which produces about one-third of the country’s grapes, is located in a valley (and, hence, more protected from typhoons), with somewhat less rainfall. In 2013 Yamanashi was the first region to be officially recognized for its GI status. It is also quite close to Tokyo and the country’s famous Mt. Fuji, and, thus, has potential for growing wine tourism.

The industrial organization of the industry is segmented. It consists of five major firms, mainly using imported material and all with a history in the food and beverage industry, alongside about 280 smaller wineries. The latter typically use locally grown grapes, often from their own vineyard. In total, only about 10% of the grapes are grown by the wineries themselves, in part a legacy of earlier land regulations. Although Japanese winemakers have studied abroad, the foreign presence appears to be relatively small, as it is in the Japanese economy in general. There are no major foreign investors in the industry, while the practice of “flying winemakers,” so common in new world producers as a means of rapid technological learning and diffusion, is uncommon.

Appropriately, the authors’ pioneering work was recognized in September 2018 at a ceremony in Paris with an International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) award in the “wines and territories” category. The volume has paved the way for other researchers in this field. For example, there is passing reference to the high costs of production, but the economics of the industry is not examined in any detail. The very strong yen for much of the past three decades is presumably a factor in the high cost structure. It may also be the case that agricultural protection, especially for rice, has inflated land values and, hence, agricultural costs. The rela- tively closed Japanese labour market, in this case for example, for the wine harvest, could be another factor. One might therefore hypothesize that Japan will remain a relatively small but interesting niche producer, its wine of particular interest to a loyal domestic clientele and to a select international market with a particular interest in Japanese wine and culinary culture.

More generally, the authors point to the need for more accurate wine production, consumption, and trade statistics in Japan (and its neighbours, particularly China), a subject on which one of the authors has co-authored an important recent paper in this Journal (Anderson and Harada, 2018). One can only hope that this volume will stimulate more work in this field.

The background of the authors is eclectic: two of them are academics at Tokyo universities (one in finance, the other in agriculture and life sciences); one has a law doctorate and worked mainly for the Japanese government and the United Nations; and one has a graduate education in wine and direct commercial experi- ence. The president of the Japan Wine Association also provides a brief, interesting Afterword.

The book is beautifully illustrated and written in a lively and accessible style. For anybody interested in knowing more about wine in this, the world’s third largest economy, and understanding its recent evolution and adaptation in a country with a deep and ancient culture, this is the volume to read.

Hal Hill
Australian National University
hal.hill@anu.edu.au
doi:10.1017/jwe.2018.46

The Sign of the Grape and Eagle: A History of German Wine

By: Daniel Deckers
Reviewer: Kevin Goldberg
Pages: 364-369
Full Text PDF
Book Review

In 1985, a survey of the West German population showed that almost half of those canvassed had thought wine fraud was broadly practiced and that less than 10% considered German wine to be of a generally good quality. Earlier that year, the Austrian diethylene glycol wine scandal disproportionately affected the German trade because many of the tampered wines were sold as blending agents to bulk German producers. As if this were not enough, in 1985, Christophe Tyrell, President of the German Growers’ Union, had been sentenced to a year in prison for illegally “improving” predicate wines at his Ruwer estate. The reputation of the German wine trade, and its prima facie ambassador, the Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter (VDP or Association of German Predicate Wine Estates), had been sorely damaged. Although the timing of the public survey coincided with these illicit scandals, the sour reputation of domestic wine among Germans, and the lack of trust in the trade, proves to have much deeper roots.

The history of German wine is anything but linear. Ups and downs constitute the norm, not the exception. Both regional infighting and global turmoil—not least the two world wars—have destabilized the German wine trade to its breaking point, on several occasions. Yet, like a phoenix risen out of the ashes, the global trade in German wine has (once again) captivated on the world stage. Lettie Teague’s (2018) three-part series on German wine in the Wall Street Journal (June 27, July 5, July 19) is evidence enough of its broadening appeal, even if the premise of her thoughtful articles is that most Americans misunderstand or are oblivious to German wine alto- gether. One could argue that we are living in the Golden Age of German wine, espe- cially Riesling. Not since the 1890s have the finest fruits of the Mosel and Rhine been so coveted by collectors and appreciated by rank and file drinkers curious enough to put aside preconceived biases against unfermented sugar and residual Teutonic enmity. Knowledgeable critics such as Teague and David Schildknecht have legiti- mized the seriousness of German wine to consumers while the swelling ranks of terroir-driven producers, including those committed to traditional methods and sites, continue to up the ante of quality.

On the surface, Daniel Deckers seems like an unlikely candidate to chronicle the German wine trade’s turbulent 20th century. Deckers, an editor and journalist at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, is a Doctor of Theology and an influential Catholic voice in Germany. He has written numerous publications on the church and several of its leading figures, including a 2014 biography of Pope Francis. Deckers has also emerged as the most significant historian of German wine active today. In addition to his landmark Im Zeichen des Traubenadlers: Eine Geschichte des deutschen Weins (2010), Deckers has penned a more general introduction to wine, Wein: Geschichte und Genuss (2017), and lectures periodically on a number of themes, including the historical role of German Jews in the trade. Despite Deckers’s attempt at a correc- tive, scholarship on German wine remains grossly inadequate, especially compared to its French counterpart, so the recent translation of Im Zeichen des Traubenadlers comes as a welcome gift to an English-language audience.

Titled The Sign of the Grape and Eagle: A History of German Wine, the 2018 trans- lation of Traubenadlers is a joint initiative of the Frankfurt Academic Press and the VDP. The book is ably translated and abridged by Giles MacDonogh, a historian of Central Europe who has also published on food and wine. While the book certainly marks a major step forward for the English-language student or consumer of German wine, it is, as will be articulated below, lighter and somehow more perplex- ing than the German-language original.

The book’s narrative interweaves two overlapping threads, sometimes to good effect and other times less successfully. In the first thread, Deckers provides a general overview of 20th-century viticulture and trade in wine. Much to Deckers’s credit, he goes to great lengths to avoid a study that is overly focused on a single region. While a scholar could easily fall into the trap of assuming that the Mosel, or the Rheingau, speaks for all of Germany, Deckers goes out of his way to bounce back and forth between regions, revealing the layers of complexity and lack of uniformity that characterized the trade. In the second thread, Eagle follows the creation and evolution of the VDP. While the representativeness of the VDP to the whole of the trade is up for debate (VDP members owned about 5%– 10% of total vineyard acreage throughout much of the 20th century), this focused perspective allows Deckers, and the reader, to restrain an otherwise unwieldy topic. In addition, we are able to ride out the Sturm und Drang of the period through careful attention to a handful of key participants.

The creation of the VDNV in 1910 (Union of German Natural Wine Auctioneers), the forerunner of today’s VDP, came as a response to various crises in the trade, including the spread of chaptalization and other “artificial” winemaking techniques, the spread of vine diseases such as Phylloxera, and the ongoing challenge of promoting and selling German wine domestically and abroad. German wine laws of 1892, 1901, and 1909, had proved inadequate in solving many vexing issues to the satisfaction of growers, merchants, and consumers, in Germany’s diverse regions. In addition to chaptalization, the question of de-acidification, or Gallisierung as it was unaffectionately dubbed in tribute to its founder and promoter, Ludwig Gall, may have been the most contentious issue, though it hardly merits a mention in Eagle. The initial VDNV consisted of members from four regions: Mosel, Rheingau, Rheinhessen, and Pfalz. Lord Mayor Albert von Bruchhausen of Trier was chosen as the Union’s first president, not least because of his sway in Prussia as a member of the House of Lords. Deckers’s treatment of these early years proves instructive in his highlighting of the regional players who struggled to congeal as a single, national Union. Changes in taste, such as the international fashion for Mosel wines in the 1890s and the effect this had on competing regions, as well as major political restructuring, most notably the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine (and its high-yielding vineyards) in the 1870s, were both catalysts for and thorns- in-the-side of Unionists. As Deckers points out, distress, more than success, drove change in the German wine trade.

World War I (1914–1918) challenged the bread-and-butter economic engine of the VDNV—the auction. As WWI dragged on, and suffering on the home front wors- ened, regional associations within the VDNV struggled to save face while profiting (rather lucratively in some cases) from the high price of wine. Not everything, however, was rosy. According to Otto Wolfgang Loeb, son of Sigmund Loeb, one of the Mosel’s foremost wine merchants in the period, the first months of the war were an economic disaster; foreign demand for German wine had dried up and domestic buyers, owing to the war economy, apparently felt little need to pay their bills. In addition, the wine regions of southwestern Germany were on the front lines of the war, and winegrowers were often forced to “donate” wine to soldiers passing through. By 1917, the War Profiteering Office was hot on the trail of wine auctions and those who most benefited from their success.

The Treaty of Versailles that concluded WWI altered the landscape of the German trade. Alsace-Lorraine and its oceans of wine were handed back to the French, although its wines were technically permitted free entry into the young Weimar Republic, thereby harming small German growers. German growers had lost major markets, including distant colonies, as a result of the war. Even Prohibition in the United States proved damaging to export growth. In fact, the period 1918– 1925 marked some of the most chaotic years in the history of the trade. Although winegrowers faced new barriers as a result of the war, the stellar vintage of 1921 offered hope while new technologies, such as sterile bottling, promised cleaner wines for consumers (of course, the very issue of sterilization was disputed by growers and tradesmen as to whether or not it was an “artificial” measure). The idyllic town of Bernkastel on the Mosel became a flashpoint for tensions in the trade as vintners gathered in a mass demonstration and burned the town’s tax office in protest of the 20% duty that was instituted during the war, but had not been removed despite the increasingly deplorable conditions faced by winegrowers.

Not coincidentally, the onerous 20% tax was soon removed as politicians in Berlin finally prepared to come to the aid of Germany’s winegrowers. The “Drink German Wine” (Trinkt Deutschen Wein) movement was launched at the Reich’s Exhibition of German Wine in Koblenz in 1926. Artful posters and a spate of promotional publi- cations (funded by the government) linked patriotism with the consumption of domestic wine. The ploy had been effective, although the financial crisis of 1929 soon put a damper on the trade’s growth. The existing wine law, in place since 1909, had run its course by the end of the 1920s. A new law, released in 1930, bore the imprimatur of the VDVN, particularly when it came to chaptalized wine, which was not permitted to bear any declaration of purity or naturalness. Similarly, the concept of “domaine-bottled” received greater protections against potential misuse.

The English translation of Eagle is about half the length of Deckers’s original Traubenadlers. Somewhat inexplicably, the most significant abridgement occurs where the greatest amount of interest is likely to reside—with the Nazis and WWII. This section is disappointingly short in Eagle and misses many of the complexities and curiosities available in Traubenadlers. Deckers has a broader knowledge of the contribution of German Jews in the wine trade than any other scholar, but things feel rushed here. We do encounter important figures like Fritz Hallgarten, Hermann Sichel, and Ludwig Levitta, the Rheingau auctioneer who was murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Despite, or maybe because of, the historic connection of Jews to the German wine trade, “less than a handful of hardcore National Socialist activ- ists” existed in the trade, according to Deckers. Long-standing NVDP president von Bruchhausen refused to sign-off his letters with the near-ubiquitous “Heil Hitler!”

On the whole, Nazi viticultural policy had to consider many other issues besides de-Judaization of the trade. The Reich’s Food Corporation (Reichsnährstand) oversaw general agricultural reforms, including the important rationalization of the vineyards (Flurbereinigung). The VDVN was incorporated into the Food Corporation in 1934, which oversaw the auction process by 1935. When war broke out in 1939, the wine regions once again formed the first line of defense (and offense) on the Western Front. The infamous Siegfried line (Westwall) cut through many privately owned vineyards, while other vineyards, including those planted on steep Mosel terraces, were outfitted with anti-aircraft artillery. Inconceivably, the VDVN continued to occupy itself with the trivialities of the trade during the war; as the bloodletting reached a fever pitch in 1942, the Union was legislating whether or not “Estate Bottled” could apply to a chaptalized wine. By 1944, the trade had become a shell of its former self. The periodical Der Deutsche Weinbau, which had backed Hitler, had ceased production. Insufficient copper sulphate meant that wine blights went untreated. By early 1945, the rail line between Trier and Koblenz, as well as the bridges and ferries serving the Mosel, had all been destroyed.

As with many other German industries, May 1945 marked a so-called zero hour (Stunde Null) for the German wine trade. A lack of labor, chemicals, equipment, and money meant that the future of German wine was in doubt. Of course, we know how things turned out. The “economic miracle” of West Germany and the concerted efforts of German and international advocates (including the American Frank Schoonmaker) salvaged the unsalvageable. New challenges certainly emerged, not least finding inroads into the American and British markets. Also, the drive towards a common European market created uncertainty among German growers as the continent drowned in surplus bottles and barrels of wine. By 1971, a new German wine law had been passed, forcing the shrinking VDNV to make major changes, including to its name. The “N” which had stood for “natural” was replaced by a “P” for predicate. The new law permitted chaptalization and focused instead on “quality” levels of grapes at harvest (the familiar Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, etc., spectrum). The newly christened VDP, although still emblemized by the grape eagle, took on a host of new issues, including the place of dry wines in the new Germany. Today, at about 200 members, the VDP is as strong and as relevant as ever. Although the internecine strife over terminological issues remain, the trade’s future appears bright.

English-language books on German wine are as rare a treat as a 1971 Trockenbeerenauslese, and in the case of Daniel Deckers’s The Sign of the Grape, it is as mercurial. One of the book’s strengths is the inclusion of dozens of colored images and illustrations. They are both beautiful and a useful accompaniment to the text. By and large, the entirety of the book’s content will be new to most readers. This book does not concern itself with nuanced maps, grower biographies, and the discussion of vintages. It is very much a work of history, but not without faults and detractions. There is no index and sources are not cited. In the text, Deckers leaves clues as to archival and published sources, but nothing is definitively clear. The production quality of the book is, unfortunately, a tier below the German original. While Traubenadlers is a 225-page hardback, Eagle is a 100-page soft cover. Notably, Eagle’s chief deficiencies are unrelated to Deckers’s original magnum opus. It is not an exaggeration to say that the reader can expect a typo or otherwise obvious error on each page of the book. Casual as well as persnickety readers will find this a distraction, and it leads one to wonder if abridgement decisions received a similar level of non-attention.

These inadequacies aside, Eagle is a much-needed translation for wine scholars and readers with a keen interest in the history of wine. It is an easy recommendation for the home or office bookshelf or wine cellar.

Kevin Goldberg
The Weber School, Atlanta
kgoldberg@weberschool.org
doi:10.1017/jwe.2018.47

Mit Wein Staat machen: Eine Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

By: Knut Bergmann
Reviewer: Kevin Goldberg
Pages: 369-371
Full Text PDF
Book Review

Alcohol, like sex and religion, is a taboo that Americans scarcely broach in polite conversation. In politics too, alcohol seems anathema to the puritanical messages of the mainstream of promulgated Judeo-Christian values. Only in the rarest of instances, for example, William Henry Harrison’s 1840 “Hard Cider” campaign and President Obama’s “beer summit” following the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, have national politicians weaponized alcohol to send a curated message, usually about class. While the recent senate judiciary flap involving judge Brett Kavanaugh placed beer front and center in American politics, alcohol—especially wine—remains seemingly absent from the American political imagination.

This is less so in the case of Germany, particularly postwar West Germany, where the politics of wine, or rather the wine of politics, was often high stakes. Knut Bergmann’s meticulously researched German-language book, Mit Wein Staat Machen: Eine Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (State-building with Wine: A History of the Federal Republic of Germany), offers a fascinating glimpse into the inclusion and exclusion of wine at state events, which was often loaded with symbolic meaning, political pitfalls, and journalistic criticisms. Whether international spectacles such as the official visits of American President John F. Kennedy or the Swedish royal family, or the mundaneness of dressed-up Bonn diplomacy, wine—German or otherwise—was almost always a key ingredient in the making of the modern German state.

Bergmann, a political scientist by training, opens his study by tipping his hat to hand-picked anthropological, historical, and sociological themes in wine scholar- ship. Short sections on ceremony, consumption patterns, and alcohol policy during the Imperial period, Weimar Republic, and Nazi era demonstrate Bergmann’s commitment to the broader discipline. The lion’s share of the book, however, follows the traditional trajectory of West German historical scholarship (early Republic, economic miracle, Ostpolitik, unification), although such a simplis- tic description on my part hardly captures the colorful imagery, clever detours, and political humor that makes this book unique.

Tucked in between the general political outline are delicious digressions on a number of related themes, including sobriety, table conversations, mishaps (e.g., Queen Elizabeth’s pained disappointment with the painting gifted by Joachim Gauck during a 2015 visit to Berlin), the 1971 wine law, and menu cards. While the student of wine has much to learn here, the scholar of the Bonn Republic may glean even more from Bergmann’s focus on the politics of soft power.

An important trend that emerges in Bergmann’s work deals with the insecurities within the German wine trade, a feeling embodied by the protagonist in Martin Walser’s The Thirteenth Chapter who utters “life is too short to drink German wine” (2012, p. 104). Even Chancellor Bismarck famously quipped to His Majesty, Wilhelm II, that his patriotism stopped at German wine. Postwar gastro-diplomats in the Federal Republic also struggled with whether or not German wine would send the right (or wrong) message, and many went to painstaking lengths to pour the right wine.

Though not necessarily the goal of Bergmann’s work, a casual wine enthusiast will still delight in reading about the drinks that facilitated international diplomacy. Bernkasteler Doctor wine, as it had since the late 19th century, remained a staple of high politics, and was as present at key Cold War summits (including when the Soviets agreed to release German prisoners of war in 1955) as wiretaps and under- cover spies. A litany of other familiar wines—Bordeaux First Growths, historic Champagne Maison, and noble Rheingau estates—keep the wine-focused reader as interested and entertained as those seeking a lesson in political science or German history.

The book is filled with dozens of photographs and other reproductions, including a 1995 photo of Fidel Castro inspecting a bottle of Chablis, which contribute to Bergmann’s witty, entertaining style. Separate indexes for names and places make jumping between and around sections a snap, and the book is footnoted enough to easily facilitate following-up critical and not-so-critical source material.

Bergmann’s efforts go a long way towards helping cement wine and other forms of alcohol as important objects in political history. Whether or not other historians and political scientists take note remains to be seen.

Kevin Goldberg
The Weber School, Atlanta
kgoldberg@weberschool.org
doi:10.1017/jwe.2018.48

Coffee and Wine – Two Worlds Compared

By: Morten Scholer
Reviewer: Mick Wheeler
Pages: 371-373
Full Text PDF
Book Review

I strongly suspect that for those of us who are coffee and wine enthusiasts, this book will become our must go to encyclopedia. Written by Morten Scholer, with an eye to detail that probably only someone with an engineering background can bring to the subject, it explores two seemingly unrelated worlds. I say “seemingly” for there is no doubt that many in the coffee trade look up to the wine industry, wishing that they could find the magic wand that will transform the quality end of the coffee market into something approximating what wine has achieved. And it is in that spirit that Morten has explored the similarities and differences between the two, and, indeed in doing so, has clearly demonstrated that the wine industry can also learn a thing or two from the coffee industry.

With around 2.5 billion cups of coffee and 0.5 billion glasses of wine consumed each day, these industries are important components of not just world trade, but of everyday consumption and it is somewhat surprising that the literature comparing the two industries is so thin. This book is, therefore, long overdue. Morten has care- fully maintained an objectivity that is uncommon among aficionados, although he does allow his love of both products to shine through. This is not, however, a book that can be read from cover to cover in one session, but rather a reference book that not only contains the basics, but also contains precious nuggets that inev- itably will make you cry out loud “Wow, I never knew that!”

The book is designed to appeal to players in both industries, explaining both sectors in a simple, yet effective, style, allowing the reader from either the wine or coffee trade to understand the mechanics of how the other industry works and the challenges each face. On the other hand, it must be said, that the juxtaposition and constant zig-zag shift between coffee and wine has the potential to be, at times, a little confusing. But the clever use of colour codes together with many illus- trations and maps, as well as a very detailed list of contents overcomes this, making the book more reader friendly than might have otherwise been the case.

As you would expect Morten starts off looking at the long and illustrious history of both products, although wine can certainly be traced further back than coffee. He then moves on to statistics (maybe not everyone’s cup of tea), but his unique and definitely quirky approach encourages the reader to continue delving into the differ- ent tables covering production, conversion ratios, and area devoted to both crops.

As an annex to the first chapter Morten lists 100 differences between coffee and wine as products and as sectors. Some are obvious, others not so and quite a few are very thought provoking. Such as the fact that coffee has twice as many aroma characteristics as wine or that there are many (20+) technical options for quality enhancement (“manipulation”) of wine, but very few in coffee. Robusta steam-clean- ing and pulped-natural-honey-processing of Arabica are among the few or that the proportion of mechanical harvesting significantly differs. Harvesters are still not widely used in coffee-producing countries and even in Brazil, where harvesters are used, they still only cover around 20% of the crop. On the other hand, for wine the mechanically harvested portion has grown rapidly since the turn of the century and is surprisingly high. It is around 80% or above of the harvest in many countries, including France, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.

The basics are covered in depth, exploring the botany, agronomy, harvesting, and processing involved in both crops, comparing and contrasting the different approaches and techniques used in both industries. Of particular interest is the chapter on “Quality and Quality Control.” The similarities in approach to judging quality is remarkable, even though there obviously remain differences, some of which are manifest, although others are more subtle. Nevertheless, it is clear that the wine industry has been a trailblazer in this regard and that other industries, espe- cially coffee, have not only learned from wine industry pioneers, but have also gone on to enhance and adapt many of the techniques and terminologies employed to create well establish criteria against which products such as coffee can be judged. This has greatly benefitted all those involved and, ultimately, the consumers of these products.

The value/supply chain is analysed meticulously with coffee having to pass through considerably more hands than wine, although it is interesting to note that industry concentration is much higher in coffee than in wine. In coffee the eight largest trade houses account for almost 50% of the world trade in coffee with some individual companies accounting for almost 15%. In wine, however, the largest wine companies only cover less than 3% of world production.

The book contains some useful advice for coffee growers and aspiring coffee exporters, and in so doing neatly illustrates how differently the supply chain works in the two industries. Indeed, it emphasizes the fact that while wine is essentially a first world industry, with a few notable and important exceptions, coffee growing is predominantly a developing country-based activity.

Throughout the book Morten uses case studies to illustrate certain points, but also to highlight interesting, if sometimes idiosyncratic, coincidences and linkages between the industries. One such example is the case study relating to Berry Bros. & Rudd, a major wine merchant based in London, which can trace its roots to trading in coffee in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The health benefits of both coffee and wine are somewhat disappointingly only covered briefly, although to be fair, Morten does point the reader in the direction of a number of authoritative publications and websites on the subject. Of possibly greater entertainment and interest is the coverage given to the various campaigns throughout history against both products. Naturally wine being an alcoholic bever- age is subject to greater scrutiny and legislation covering health warnings against excessive consumption today than coffee is, but coffee is mostly served hot, which in itself can be dangerous in clumsy hands.

The one area where, although Morten does not say directly so himself, the wine trade should take note of what is happening in coffee, is sustainability. The reader quickly becomes aware that the standards of sustainability applied to coffee are in several ways more complex than the standards for wine. This may well be because coffee sustainability standards are global whereas those applied to wine tend to be national, but as Morten so rightly points out this is not to say that the standards for wine are simple and easy. They are not, but while Morten maintains thorough neutrality on the subject, it is apparent that national standards are not easily compa- rable to each other and that this may well be an issue that has the potential to cause real, but avoidable, problems for the wine industry in the future.

The last chapter in the book provides data and the history of both wine and coffee by country. It is encyclopedic in its concise, yet rich, coverage of each country. It con- tains a wealth of useful information and as such will probably be well thumbed by students, researchers, and serious nerds like myself.

If I have one criticism it is the fact that the book does not look at the amounts of subsidy or aid going into each industry. Farming in both developed and developing countries increasingly appears to be reliant on direct outside support in one way or another, rather than on the market alone. A direct comparison between the two industries would have been helpful and informative.

Nevertheless, I really like this book, it is informative, well researched, quirky, easy to navigate, and a good read.

Mick Wheeler
Executive Director (retired)
Specialty Coffee Association of Europe
wheeler@globalnet.co.uk
doi:10.1017/jwe.2018.49

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